Flying on a Red Cloud
by Jaded Delirium
Summary: When Konoha discovers Ino is a diclonius, a potentially lethal genetically mutated human, she is banished to a tormenting facility run by scientists. It doesn't help that Akatsuki wants her power too. DeiIno Sort of OOC
1. Rescue

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, or any of the characters in Naruto! But I do own the plot of this story.

This is an Ino-centric fic, with first person POV. It borrows some elements from Elfen Lied but most of it is straight up fanfiction.

Whenever someone crosses over Naruto with Elfen Lied, usually a Naruto character is found to be a diclonius-human (which will be explained later), and that's always Sakura for her pink hair. I thought, Sakura is strong enough on her own without needing to be a diclonius. Hinata and Tenten are pretty powerful too, so why not Ino?

If you don't like my choice of who's a diclonius or whatever, then this fic probably isn't right for you.

This first chapter is a bit dark, so please be careful!

* * *

Blood is dripping into a puddle on the floor. The crimson liquid is running down my arm from a bullet in my shoulder. I pluck the bullet out and fling it away. I would heal that cut, but other wounds are deeper, so I ignore my shoulder and focus on healing the other wounds. Healing is easier when you can use your hands, but mine are chained to the wall. My metal helmet obscures most of my vision, but I can see that I am covered in a mixture of blood, sweat, and water. They sprayed me with a hose earlier. It's been a while since I have taken a bath or even a shower. 

My name is Ino Yamanaka. I am, or used to be, a Konoha shinobi, but my village sent me away in fear. Sending me away is the least offensive term I can think of. Betrayal is the worst.

I don't really blame anyone, even though most people in my position would. It is no one's fault that I am what I am. A month or two ago, I wouldn't have guessed I would be here.

A group of foreigners had come to Konoha. They were not shinobi, but they were quite powerful. These people had weapons, guns, they call them, that can fire sharp objects called bullets much faster than a ninja can throw a kunai. Naturally, Tsunade-sama invited them to stay for a short period.

The foreigners were part of an organization that hunts down mutated humans called Diclonius. These humans have pink hair, red eyes, horns that protrude from either side of the head, and invisible or nearly transparent arms called vectors sprouting out of their backs. Vectors vibrate at a high frequency, allowing them to penetrate through objects. These arms are what make a Diclonius so deadly.

I was passing by out of curiosity to see what these people were like, when I saw a group of them pointing their guns at a pink-haired girl with horns chained to a strange metal machine. One of them was saying something to another man.

"This is a test to see how much pain a diclonius can endure before it can't use it's vectors. If you can't stand watching, then go help the director."

It was pure torture. They turned on the machine, and I saw something like a miniature bolt of lighting leap out of the machine and strike the girl. She screamed, and the men shot bullets at her. The bullets stopped a few feet away, and the girl started to cry.

"Please, please stop! This is hurts!" she cried. Another lightning bolt, larger this time, struck her. She shrieked and began crying, more bullets were aimed at her, she deflected them. A few more times, the electricity more deadly every time, and eventually the bullets hit their mark. The girl was alive, but in critical condition.

"Serves you right, you inhuman freak of nature," said one of the men, lowering his gun.

I couldn't take it anymore. This was pure sadism and inhuman torture. I leapt in front of the men.

"Who do you think isn't human? Human people aren't supposed to act like this." I was speaking in a voice that was lower and somehow colder than my normal one.

"Hold on there, girl, we're just doing our job," said one of the men. I didn't care.

"Sadists!" I yelled. Suddenly, something broke free inside me, like a bird flying away from it's cage. I could feel something strange in my back, arms. I reached out a few of them, and slashed my way through all the people.

"It's a diclonius! Get away and call the director!" yelled some men in white coats. I stood with my head down and arms at my side. This was a new feeling to me. Normally, Ino Yamanaka is not really the type of shinobi who was strong or had power. To tell the truth, I wasn't very confident in my abilities as a ninja. But with this new vector power… I felt stronger. No one could stand in my way.

After healing the poor diclonius girl, I went to Tsunade and told her of my newfound vectors. So I was a diclonius after all, I just didn't have the hair, the horns, nor the red eyes. When I first informed the Hokage, she looked shocked, Shizune almost fearful, and Sakura half in awe and half horrified. The massacre in the foreigner's camp did not improve my reputation. Soon, word got out in Konoha that I was a diclonius. Rumors built up, and even though I could control my power, some people thought that I might snap anytime and murder everyone around me, just like I did to the diclonius hunters. The only people who were not wary of me were my parents, and my friends. But a handful of people couldn't convince a village that I wasn't dangerous. In a way, maybe I was. So it wasn't long before they sent me away to the foreigner's facility as an imprisoned diclonius. I didn't try to fight or escape, because since I'm not welcome in Konoha anymore, where can I go?

Sometimes, if I snap back at the scientists, yell at them, insult them, or injure anyone with my vectors, they call for a round of shots to be fired at me, or tell me that I won't have lunch or dinner or whichever meal happens to be coming next. So I'm basically a meek little guinea pig that doesn't bite back.

Everyday, I am put under experimentation. Sometimes they test their weapons on me, to see what I can deflect or not, or sometimes they want to see how much pain I can take, or to see if I can control my vectors without eating for a long time. That may seem awful, but that's not the worst.

Too many diclonius have been dying. The facility needs more test subjects. When I got my period in my cell, the scientists were overjoyed. Hooray, I can reproduce and give them more guinea pigs to torture. Apparently, there are two types of diclonius: Diclonius and Silpelits. They are basically the same, but diclonius can reproduce and silpelits can't. The reproducing diclonius are called 'diclonius queens'. I sure don't feel like a queen.

So frequently, though not everyday, after I am exhausted and nearly unable to fight back, they send someone in to well, inseminate me. The more concise term would be rape.

One might think that I would have gone insane by now, or committed suicide, or at least allowed myself to be killed by the scientists. But I haven't really lost hope. When I first arrived at the facility, I thought I felt a chakra signature in the area. Back then, I just dismissed that as homesickness.

Later, I sensed chakras appearing more and more frequently. It may be foolish to assume the shinobi whom I kept sensing were rescuers, but they were familiar, almost comforting, to me. They reminded me that I shouldn't give up hope.

A draft is blowing from a nearby ventilation unit. I shiver, and bring my legs around my naked body. That's another drawback to living here. You don't get clothed, and people stare at you. Luckily, if I bring my vectors out, they can sort of cover me, but not fully. They only blur whatever is behind it.

I wish I could escape, but I can't. The chains contain electricity, so if I stick my vectors through them, the electric current will run through my vectors and I will be electrocuted. Not a good idea. Also, my helmet has its own electric current, so something that is not connected to anything else has to strike the surface. Even a crack would be enough. The electricity will then escape through the crack, and I could smash the helmet open with my vectors. That's my escape plan so far.

A chakra is coming closer to me. The person is avoiding all the scientists that are still working at this late hour. They're stealthy, I'll give them that. I pull my legs closer. Even if they've come to help me, I don't plan on letting them see anything.

The shinobi is closer now, I can sense that. A few more steps and they would be in the room outside my cell, where the scientists usually watch as I go through experimentation.

A few seconds pass. Someone has turned on the lights, and I look up from my seat against the wall.

It's a… girl? Boy? I can't tell. But they are blond, just like me, and wearing this strange black cloak with red clouds or something on it. Akatsuki?

"Ino Yamanaka?" I nod. The person's voice is decidedly male.

"Who are you?"

"I'm from the Akatsuki. We want to make you an offer, work for us and we'll help you escape, un." Great. Well, I would rather be somewhere else than here, even if it's with a bunch of psychotic maniacs.

"What if I say no?" I ask. He smirks. I can only see one blue-gray eye, his left is covered by hair. He has the rest of his hair in a ponytail, eerily similar to my previous hairstyle.

"Then I'll have to detonate the bomb inside you, un. I heard you can feel that you can have it?" Darn. I stretch one of my vectors out, keeping in invisible, and move in around my body. There's something strange in my stomach.

"How did that thing get there?"

"I put it in your food and you ate it earlier. So, Ino-chan, what do you say?"

What else can I do? It's either die, or work with Akatsuki. Neither of those options are good. But I think I have a better chance of survival and eventually escape if I go.

"Fine. I'll join," I say. He smirks again.

"Can you get these chains off? Without touching them physically, like with your skin? Whatever breaks them will be electrocuted, so I haven't tried till now." He's still smiling. It's getting a little bit creepy. He reaches into a pouch on the side of his waist and places his hand in it. After a while, he takes his hand out, and I see a- what the heck is that thing?

"What's that? On your hand," I ask. Then I get a closer look. A mouth? It's smiling at me while chewing away on something.

"Nevermind," I say quickly.

"You talk a lot, un," he says.

"And you say 'un' a lot." He looks at his hand, and the strange mouth spits out a wad of something. After squeezing the stuff, two small spiders are sitting on his palm.

"Interesting," I say. He smiles brightly. The spiders jump on my handcuffs, which are connected to the chains, which are connected to the wall.

"Now you'll get to see why my art is a bang, un," he says. With a small explosion and a puff of smoke, the spiders disappear and I slice the metal off with my vectors. He's still smirking at me.

"Um… could I borrow your cloak?" I ask, timidly. No way am I walking around naked in front of anyone. He takes his cloak off and holds it out to me. I grab it with my vectors, which must look a bit strange, because they are still invisible and it probably looks like the cloak is levitating on it's own. Fastening the cloak around me, I make sure it covers everything and stand up. It's been a really long time since I walked. I have to walk slowly, or else I'll fall.

"How are we going to get out?" I ask.

"Wait a bit, un," he says. Another gulp of the white stuff, and there's a large white owl in front of us. Oh my.

"What's that made of?" I say. He smiles again and replies, "Clay."

"Really?"

"It's my art, un. I infuse the clay with my chakra and then sculpt it," he says. Not bad. He jumps on the bird, and I hesitantly climb on.

"Hold on," he says. I stretch out a few vectors and fasten them around the bird. The owl slams its way through the wall, and we're flying in the night sky. A few security guards fire at us, but we're too far away.

"Woo-hoo, freedom!" I yell. Laughing, I turn to my strange rescuer.

"Thanks! By the way, what's your name?" I ask.

"It's Deidara," he says. I smile, but I realize he can't see it. Pointing to my helmet, I say, "Can you get this thing off?" Deidara's hand eats some more clay, and he places his hand on the side of my head. Another explosion, and I smash the helmet. My hair whips free in the wind, and I smile brightly. He's staring at me, and I look at him curiously.

"What?"

"Nothing," he says, quickly turning away. I look backwards and smirk to myself. I guess being pretty does have its perks.

"Can I lie down?" I ask. Without waiting for an answer, I fall on my back, curl up, and close my eyes. It really has been a long time since I've done anything remotely related to lying down. Being chained to the wall doesn't help.

I can sense Deidara looking at me, but I don't care. I'm free, or as free as a person who has to work for the Akatsuki can get.

* * *

I noticed I never did say Ino's number of vectors nor range. That will be revealed later. Also, I know diclonius have pink hair, horns, and red eyes, and Ino doesn't have those. Those features just converted themselves into extra vector powers, I guess. 

I'll update this fic as often as I can. Thanks for reading this and please review!


	2. Nightmare

Disclaimer: I guess I can say I own Ino's vector powers and diclonius genes in this fic, and the plot, but nothing else.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed, and all suggestions!

By the way, somehow I could only upload a few pages of this chapter first. I had to copy and paste everything from the original file into here. So if somehow the same text appears or the font is a different size, sorry! I'll adjust it if it goes weird again.

* * *

I'm lying on something hard. Did they unchain me when I was sleeping, and I slumped over on the floor? Wait- it's moving. Maybe I'm on an airplane. They did that once. They took me on to this strange machine that could apparently fly. While I was inside the thing in midair, the plane spun around and upside down and any other way possible. It was a test to see if gravity had any effect on vectors, or something. That's pretty dumb. If you're upside down, you can still move your arms and head, right? It's the same thing with vectors.

There is wind blowing through my hair. My helmet is gone- what happened last night? Oh yes. I made a deal with an Akatsuki member, escaped the facility, and am currently on a giant white clay bird flying to some unknown location. I open my eyes and get up, reaching two vectors around the bird just in case I lose my balance. Someone's sitting behind the bird's head. What was his name? Oh yeah, Deidara. The one who I would look like if I were a guy minus the mouths and the scope eye.

"Morning!" I say cheerily. A person's disposition improves after a good night's sleep. He turns around and smiles at me.

"How long did I sleep?"

"Since we left that building, un. It'll take a couple more hours to reach headquarters." I wonder if he slept at all last night. But I don't know where to go, so I can't exactly take second watch or whatever. I feel a sharp pain from my stomach. Back at the facility, I would be eating breakfast by now. Leaning over the bird, I scan the area below. We're about 10 meters above the water. It figures, since the facility was on an island. 10 meters is perfect. I can easily reach into the water and still have vector length to spare. The scientists think that I have 6 vectors each with a length of 6 meters, but I've been keeping my real number and range secret. Akatsuki probably gets their information by interrogating some of the scientists or something. That's good, I have a secret weapon.

I scan the water below. Darn, I suppose I'll have to eat whatever I catch raw. I doubt Deidara has any exploding tags or matches, because of the clay sculptures. There's a school of small fish underneath. I can't really tell what kind they are, but I plunge a few vectors in to grab a few. Slicing the head off a fish, I wipe off the slime and start eating.

"Where did you get those, un?" I look over at Deidara. He's looking quizzically at me.

"Oh, these?" I pick up a fish. It's still squirming around. "I caught them. Here you go." I hand him the fish. It flops around and slaps Deidara on the nose. I can't help it, I start laughing. Neatly cutting the fish in half, I grin.

"Thanks. What did you catch it with?" I give him a sideways smile.

"I think you know." Fifteen minutes later, we're both bored. Well, I am. He's poking at a wad of clay.

"What do you think of my art, un?"

"Too ephemeral. I think art should be a lasting tribute."

"Yeah, my art leaves a lasting _impression_, and that's even better. A memory is left behind and people remember it forever."

"Meh, same thing."

"No it isn't!"

"Yes it is!"

"Whatever. I still think art should last."

"You sound like Sasori-danna, un."

"Who?"

"One of my last partners. He made everlasting puppets and we discussed art all the time, un."

"Why'd he leave, then? Did your art scare him off or something? Or did one discussion get out of hand and u blew him up?"

"Your friend killed him."

"Oh. Sorry." We're silent for a while. That's one thing about conversations- talk about dead people almost always end one. I wonder how many people will die at my hands? I haven't killed any scientists, because, well, I don't like killing. Would I have to kill everyone in Akatsuki in order to leave? I look over at Deidara. He hasn't shown any particularly evil behavior since I've known him. Which, when you think about it, is a pretty difficult task when you're alone in the middle of nowhere with an almost naked girl.

A few hours later, I can see a broad mountain range. Treacherous slopes, sharp rocks, no sign of any water except a tiny stream at the very bottom- I can see why this would make a good hideout. The bird flies to a small cliff on the side of a mountain, and here we dismount. Deidara presses his ring to the side of the cliff, and suddenly there's an opening. He motions for me to go in, so I do, vectors out and invisible just in case. It's dark inside, so I can't see what Deidara is doing, but soon the place is flooded with lights. I blink. We're in a hall, and there's even an umbrella stand next to the opening, which transforms back into rock as soon as we've entered.

"Wow, it's like a house inside a cave!" I say.

"It is, un." He walks away through another corridor and I follow. Hopefully I won't have to share a room with anyone, because I read in Konoha that Akatsuki works in pairs. Maybe they _just_ might have an unequal number of members? Deidara stops all of a sudden, and I stretch a vector around myself just in case. Someone steps out of a room. He wears an orange mask with a hole wear maybe his eye is, and I can't see anything else except that he has short brown hair.

"Ino-chan, this is Tobi. He was my partner until recently," says Deidara. I smile at Tobi.

"Hi, nice to meet you Tobi," I reach out my hand.

"Ohayo, Ino-chan! It's nice to meet you! Be nice to sempai, please. He's my best friend! We're going to be great friends, Ino-chan!" Tobi says enthusiastically. Deidara looks like he would swat Tobi if I weren't standing there. Someone walks behind Tobi. They're encased in a venus fly trap, and half of their head is white while the other half is black. Well, that's something you don't see everyday.

"Hi," I say hesitantly to the person. He looks at me as if he's assessing how dangerous I look.

"Hello."

"Ino-chan, this is Zetsu-san! He's normally very nice, but today he's _pollinating_ so he might be a little bit more cranky," says Tobi chirpily. Zetsu kicks Tobi. I don't exactly see _how_ he does it, but Tobi is rubbing the back of his leg while apologizing.

"Let's go, un," says Deidara. I follow him down the hall.

"Why are there so many halls?"

"If anyone tries to enter the Akatsuki hideout, they would get lost and we could easily capture them, un."

"Does there have to be so many?"

"Yes. We're here, un." He stops at a door that looks like all the doors we've passed.

"How do you know this is the right one?"

"The frame is white, un."

"Sure…" I walk inside. The room is lightly furnished, only with a bed, a closet, and a door leading to a bathroom. But there are shelves full of white clay sculptures, and I have to admit that they are very nice.

"Is there anything for me to wear?" Deidara points to a pile of clothing on the ground. I pick them up and head to the washroom. Then, on second thought, I hand him the new cloak.

"I soiled this one, so you can have mine. Hey, could I borrow a hair tie?" He nods, so I walk into the washroom.

They gave me a plain black t-shirt and a pair of black pants. I guess they never worry about overheating. I pull up my hair in my regular high ponytail and smile at my reflection. It's been a while since I've done that. When I exit the washroom, Deidara is talking to someone with silver hair and carrying a three-bladed scythe. I smile, Tenten would love one of those. The person looks over at me and grins.

"Hey, you must be our new member. I'm Hidan, and you are-?"

"Ino Yamanaka. Nice to meet you," I say. Hidan smiles at me and turns back to Deidara.

"Leader-sama wants you, me, and Ino-chan to go to the meeting room for something." Hidan pauses and mutters something that sounds like 'that motherf-cking trash'. He grins at me again.

"Doesn't he get mad when you talk about Leader like that?" I ask.

"No, do I look stupid enough to talk sh-t about him right when he's there?" I laugh.

"Come on you two, let's go, un." Deidara walks past Hidan and I, giving Hidan a pointed look. Hidan glares at him and elbows me, whispering 'Someone's jealous.' I can't help but laugh at that.

We walk down the hall for a minute, and then at the very end, there's a branching passage, one to the left and one to the right. We go down the left hall, and there's a door at the very end. Walking in, I only see a circle of chairs in the middle of the room. There's nothing else inside. Deidara and Hidan sit down, and motion for me to do so as well. Hesitantly, I perch myself on the end of a chair.

"Welcome," a voice says. I stretch out two vectors just in case, but no one else looks very surprised that a disembodied voice is in the room. In fact, next to me, Hidan is slouching and Deidara looks bored.

"Uh, hi?" I say. Then an astral projection appears in the middle of the circle and I raise my eyebrows. I guess I was expecting a dramatic entrance, like the ceiling to blow up in a puff of coloured smoke.

"Yamanaka Ino?" I nod. "I am the Leader of Akatsuki. I've heard you have a strange power called vectors which only diclonius can have?" I nod again.

"It seems like you're well informed," I say. The astral projection clears its throat.

"…Leader-_sama_," I add.

"Not well informed enough to have actually seen your power in action. Follow me," says Leader. He turns and floats through the door. I follow him, with Deidara and Hidan walking behind me. We past all the doorways, walk out the camouflaged entrance, and climb the side of the mountain. It's easier for me with my vectors. I still keep them invisible, not in their smoky-white state. It'll be better that they can't see my vectors, so I can have an advantage.

When we reach the top of the mountain, Leader turns around. I can see that the mountain peak is a flat plateau, perfect for a sparring field.

"Ino, you'll be fighting against Hidan," he states.

"Why Hidan?" Deidara and I ask at the same time. I look over at him, why does he care? But he's not looking at me, he's watching Leader.

"Because whatever Ino does to Hidan will have no effect on him," Leader says calmly.

"Really?" I ask. Hidan grins at me.

"I'm immortal."

"That's impressive," I say.

"Begin," says Leader.

Placing my vectors around me so that no part of me is unprotected, I walk to a spot on the plateau.

"I won't f-cking hold back," says Hidan. He's right, he doesn't hold back at all. Everywhere I look, there's that three-bladed scythe flashing, trying to break through my vectors. After a few moments, Hidan jumps backward, a few meters away. I slice my vector through his neck and his head drops to the ground while his body falls in a dead slump. The head rolls over and smiles at me.

"Nice one, Ino-chan," he says. Behind me, I can hear Deidara and that astral projection start. It must look like Hidan's head just flew off while I stood there and did nothing.

Then I hear a bang. Something grazes my forehead, and I fall to the ground.

**I hear the sound of a helicopter. It's getting closer, and still keeping my head bent, I see one landing on the edge of the plateau. **

**Blood is leaking into my eye. I press my hand to my forehead, something must have scratched it. There's a bullet lying on the ground next to me. A soldier from the helicopter must have fired it. How did it get through my vectors? **

**Someone is lowering a rifle from the plane. **

"**Sh-t, I missed," I hear him say. A man wearing a bullet proof suit elbows him. **

"**Bando, you're not supposed to shoot her unless she isn't willing to come with us!" **

"**Ino-chan, are you alright, un?" Deidara is next to me. He looks worried. **

"**I'm fine," I mutter. **

"**Your eyes are red, is that normal?" he asks. I don't care. A group of soldiers exit the helicopter and all of them have guns pointing at me. One of them points at Deidara. **

"**You there, get away from her or you'll be killed!" I heal the scratch on my forehead. Then, I stand up and walk slowly toward the people. All of them start. I can see Leader floating on the other side of the plateau, watching me closely. **

"**Fire!" A man yells. Instantly, wave upon wave of bullets hit my vector shield and bounce off. **

"**Remember, her range is only six meters!" someone yells. I raise my head and smirk. **

"**You really think that I'd be stupid enough to show you my true power? Pathetic humans. If you're lucky, maybe you'll get to see them at full length today." My voice is colder than lower than my regular one. I think that whenever I become like this, my voice is altered too. This time, I unleash my vectors so that everyone can see them. Smoky-white, they sprout from my back, and stretch toward the tremulous group of soldiers. I slash through them, some I decapitate. **

**One soldier jumps down from the helicopter. It's the one that shot me. He points a finger at me. I think his name was Bando or something. **

"**I've dealt with your kind before. Don't think you're that great, or you're going to die!" I look at him. To an ordinary human, he looks tough and intimidating, but in front of me, he's just a big-talking regular person. **

"**How did you get through my vectors?" I ask. He sneers at me. **

"**This is a 50 caliber gun. It's heavy and fast enough so you can't deflect it." **

"**Oh really," I say. I slice his hand off, but no blood comes out. **

"**I guess you weren't joking when you said you fought my kind before," I say. Bando leaps for the gun, but I snatch it away with my vectors. Bringing it to my hand, I examine it curiously. **

"**You humans are ingenious, I'll give you that," I say. Raising the gun, I point it at him. Bando raises his hands and backs away. **

"**That's unfair! You have those vectors, and I-" I shoot both his shoulders. He falls over, swearing profusely. I walk over and casually pin down both of his arms with my legs. My vectors press down his legs, and I stand over him. **

"**You're lucky. Since other diclonius have spared you, I will too," I say. Then I smirk at him. **

"**Let those scars be a reminder, never mess with me again or it will be much worse next time." I release my hold on his limbs and walk away. **

"**Go back to where you came from, you b-tch!" Bando yells after me. I stop. Where I came from… Konoha? Suddenly there's a pain in my head. I clasp the sides of my head, and everything slips away. **

What happened? I'm standing here and clutching my head. There are several soldiers lying in bloody piles on the ground. I remember fighting Hidan, and his body is lying close to where Leader is floating and Deidara is holding a wound on his arm. I think it's caused by a bullet.

I walk over to him, pluck the bullet out, and begin healing his arm.

"Sorry, were you shot?" I ask.

"Yeah, but that doesn't matter, un. Ino-chan, when that guy shot you your eyes turned red and you started fighting those soldiers." He points to the corpses on the ground and the helicopter that's about to fly away.

"Really?" I ask. Maybe when I hit my head, I fell into a trance. It's happened before, when I first discovered my diclonius powers.

"I don't remember anything." Then I hear a bullet being fired. I close my eyes and duck. Something wraps around me, and I hope this isn't the end.

Wait. Why hasn't it hit me? I look up. Deidara has his arm around me, and his other hand is reaching away in front of us. There's a giant white swan with its wings outstretched, a bullet piercing it's left wing. That would have hit my back if it hadn't been deflected. Bando is standing a few meters away from that bird, he has a gun in his hand.

"You're lucky, you b-tch. That would have killed you for sure if that f-cking bird hadn't gotten in the way." The swan jumps at Bando, who steps backward, right off the edge of the mountain peak. He's lucky, the helicopter flies by and an arm reaches out and grabs Bando. Then it flies off.

The rest of the day passes without incident. I meet the other members of Akatsuki, Itachi, Kisame, and Kakuzu, Hidan's partner.

The floor really isn't that bad. I lie down and promptly fall asleep.

There's blood dripping off me onto the floor. I'm cold, and there's a fire next to me. I crouch closer, and the warmth is pleasant on my skin.

The fire has a strange smell. I look closely, and I see-

Human parts. The fire is fueled not by wood, but by burning humans. The soldiers I killed today. I scream, and run far away.

There are people in the distance. Who are they? I go closer, and see my friends. Sakura is talking animatedly to Naruto, and Shikamaru is lying on the ground while Choji talks to him, eating potato chips. I smile.

Then I feel something latch onto my arms and legs. Chakra strings. There are figures in black cloaks with red clouds on them controlling the strings. More strings latch onto my back, and my vectors are pulled out. I struggle and try to break free, but it's no use.

My vectors are stretching toward my friends.

"NO!" I yell. "Don't hurt them! Please, don't hurt them!" The figures do not listen. A few slashes of my vectors, and my friends are lying on the ground. Blood is pouring where Shikamaru's head used to be, and Choji is slashed through the stomach. Naruto has a gaping hole in his chest, while Sakura is brutally dismembered. I struggle harder, tears running down my face.

"Stop, stop!"

"Ino-chan, Ino-chan!" Someone's calling me. I writhe harder. Then the world tilts over and everything slips away.

I'm violently shaken out of my dream. Deidara is leaning over me, and his hands are on my shoulders. Tears are running down my cheeks.

"Ino-chan, are you ok, un?" I bury my face into my arms and crouch over. He pulls me in an awkward hug as I cry and try to push the images of my mutilated friends out of my mind. Then I turn to Deidara.

"Is everyone ok?" He doesn't know what I'm talking about, but he says yes. Very gently, he wipes the tears away from my face.

"Thank you," I whisper. I lean back, into his chest, and sigh. Deidara stiffens at first, then he puts his arm around my shoulders and lays his head on top of mine. I fall asleep peacefully.

* * *

God, this is the longest chapter I've written! The bold font is when Ino is in a trance and her diclonius blood is stirred up.

By the way, I realized that in the first chapter I said that the scientists tried to rape Ino. She fought back, so she's not pregnant or anything.

Thanks for reading and please review! Sorry if you got squeamish at the bloody parts.


	3. Confrontation

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, but I'd like to! Also I don't own Bando from the last chapter. He's from Elfen Lied.

* * *

The sunlight is turning my vision behind my eyelids orange. Why didn't I close the blinds last night? At least it's warm. Is that a blanket? No, that's someone's arm. I might go back to sleep, just stop thinking and- wait.

I open my eyes. I'm lying against Deidara, who's still sleeping. My head is on his shoulder, and his arm is draped around my shoulders. Twisting my head to look at the clock, I see it's 6:00. Back in Konoha, I used to wake up whenever I felt like it, which was usually around nine or ten. Call me lazy. I guess I've been an early riser since I went to the facility. I didn't like to wake up in the morning with a group of scientists in the next room staring, so I've tried to get up earlier so I could do the staring instead of them.

I pull myself out of Deidara's embrace. Darn, what was I thinking last night? Hopefully he doesn't think that after that I'm his girlfriend or something. I walk over to the washroom and proceed to take a shower. Luckily, they did give me a towel. Later, I go to the mountain plateau, the spot of yesterday's massacre. The bodies are buried, so except for splashes of red on the rock, there's no sign of my being there. I turn toward the sun.

Somehow, the sunlit rays are calming. They warm my face, and if I stayed here longer, I could dry my hair. Wringing out the water in my hair, I perch on a boulder and close my eyes.

It's so peaceful. I could stay here forever, but eventually someone would come out and make me go back inside. Sighing, I walk back to the hideout. No one's in the kitchen, so I look in the cupboards. I guess these people are always away on missions, because there is barely anything to eat. That, or they order take-out. Haven't they heard that eating out too much shortens your lifespan?

A few minutes later, I walked over to the long table with a stack of dishes, forks, and knives. With my vectors I laid them out, one set per seat. There's a sizzling smell, and I reach out and flip over a pancake. That's another good thing about these vectors too; they can withstand heat. I don't even need a spatula. Looking over my shoulder at the oven, I can see the pancakes look fully cooked, so I maneuver them on the dishes and place the plate covers (you know, those round things that you put on top of a dish so the heat won't escape) over them. Then I pour and microwave 8 glasses of milk. Hey, osteoporosis is preventable, so why not drink milk? I turn to the cupboards again. I wonder if Akatsuki eats vitamins? Nah, best not to risk it.

Tobi walks in when I'm half-finished with my pancakes. He looks around, at the neatly set up table and the pile of pans in the sink.

"That smells nice, Ino-chan! Did you cook those?" He points at the pancakes.

"And good morning to you too. Yeah, so just dig in," I say. Everyone else walks in a few minutes later.

"Ohayo!" Tobi says cheerily. "Ino-chan made these, they're really good!" I slouch lower in my seat. Tobi is nice, but I can see why the Akatsuki people think he's annoying.

"Thanks, Tobi," I say. I walk out of the kitchen, but then pause for a moment and stick my invisible vector to the door. Then I go back to Deidara's room. Strange, how we share it but I still think it's _his_ room. I focus chakra to my ear and to the trailing vector. It's a diclonius-only technique I made up. If your ear and a vector are connected to chakra, it's as if you are actually where your vector is and you can listen in on conversations. Eavesdropping, really.

"Wow," Kisame, I think, says, "she can cook, she's strong and pretty, you got a good one, Deidara. I'm sort of jealous." I try not to smirk. Seriously, I didn't expect Akatsuki to be a bunch of elegant guys in tuxedos, and I didn't think they would be a group of rough stoners either. Actually, I wasn't really sure what to expect. But I didn't think they would be _normal_.

"Yeah, so hands off, un," says Deidara. Ha, like I would let anyone touch me.

"So," Hidan says. I can practically see him leaning forward to get eye contact with someone. "… have you gotten any f-cking action yet?" Oh my. So this is how they act when I'm not around.

"No…" says Deidara. He's thinking of last night, I can imagine that.

"Jashin, you useless sh-t! Can I have Ino-chan instead?" I hear a loud bang. That's probably Deidara getting mad and hitting Hidan.

I walk back to the kitchen. There's no use in an argument over me. Sticking my head inside, I see Hidan holding his hand out, and Kakuzu… reattaching it? Deidara is turned with his back away from Hidan. From his posture, he looks like he's fulminating.

"Is everything alright?" Everyone looks up. Hidan grins slightly at me and opens his mouth to speak.

"I'm glad everyone is here," says a voice beside me. I turn to my right and there's Leader-the-astral-projection again. I bet he loves doing that astral projection thing.

"Why do you always do that?" I ask.

"It is my only form of communication between myself and Akatsuki when we are not together in person."

"How about sending a letter?"

"That would be too slow. I also prefer to deliver my messages in person."

"Good point."

"Anyway, Deidara and Ino, go to the borders of Kumokagure and await further instruction." The astral projection disappeared.

"That's not so far from here!" says Tobi happily. "Maybe we can even visit you two!"

"Where are we, anyway?" I ask. It's good to know if I ever escape, which direction to head, that sort.

"Oh, we're on the parts between the Land of Water and the Land of Lightning," Tobi answers. I smile slightly. Poor unsuspecting guy. As I prepare for travel, I calculate the distance between here and Konoha. I'd have to go west over ocean for a long, long time but I can just propel myself with my vectors and-

"Ino-chan, we're leaving, un." Huh? I look over at Deidara. I think I've been ignoring him.

"Oh, sure." Travel is much faster with that giant bird of his. I wish I had one of those. It's a lot more convenient. We arrive at the gates. They look like the gates to any other village, tall, white, and imposing. Suddenly, I feel a chakra presence near by. Someone is coming up the road. Somehow, that chakra is familiar. Then, I gasp.

Sakura and Naruto are walking toward us. Naruto is limping and holding on to Sakura. She has her arms around his shoulders, and it seems like she is scolding him for losing his temper. Naruto is apologizing, but they both look at each other fondly. I back away slowly, and bump into Deidara.

"Hey, un!"

"Sorry," I hiss. But it's too late. Naruto and Sakura have all ready noticed us. Sakura looks happy, while Naruto looks shocked. Then, Naruto's expression turns from shocked to one of utter loathing. He points accusingly and Deidara, who actually doesn't show any recognition.

"You're the guy who killed Gaara!"

"Hey, Ino-chan, who's he, un?" I get nudged in the back. But I don't have time to answer. Naruto is charging forward with a Rasengan in his hand, and Deidara is looking at me like he wants me to do something. What? Oh, great.

I sigh, and walk forward, placing my vectors around me in an invisible shield. I stand directly between Naruto and Deidara. Right now, I feel like shooting the latter.

"Ino, get out of the way!" yells Sakura. Naruto tries to stop, but he is going too fast and he crashes into my vectors. The Rasengan in his hand flies drops away.

"Sorry, Naruto," I say softly. He leaps away and glares at me.

"Why did you do that, Ino? He's from Akatsuki!" Then he notices my cloak.

"You joined them too?! Don't tell me you actually like this bast-rd!" I roll my eyes.

"No, why would I do that?"

"Then why?" asks Sakura. She looks hurt. Guilt rises up inside me.

"They placed a bomb inside me, and if I don't work for them, they'll detonate it," I explain.

"Ino, if you work for Akatsuki then they'll take over the world! We're all doomed! Akatsuki will use you till you die," yells Naruto.

"Don't you think I already know that? I don't have a choice," I say. They look at each other. I can't read their expressions, but it seems like a lot is being discussed and I'm the main topic.

"If you come with us, we can get that bomb out," says Sakura gently, "Anyway, Konoha was going to send a squad out to get you back. We want you back, Ino." She smiles sadly. "We miss you."

"Ino, is it because Konoha treated you like a monster back when you were there?" Naruto asks. Of course, why else? "I was once treated like that too. I know it hurts, but Sakura and I, and everyone else, we understand, and we'll accept you if you come with us.

"Why does Konoha want me back? They banished me because I was a diclonius in the first place." I look at the ground. Then, cruel realization hits me- that's why they're so eager to get me away from Akatsuki.

"Oh, THAT'S it. It's all about power, right? You just said that Akatsuki will gain world domination more quickly if I help. So Konoha wants me back so they can remain at the top. What do you think I am, a machine? A weapon with no feelings?" I turn away. I don't want to see anyone.

"Ino…" Naruto and Sakura say in unison. I lower my head. A group of guards exit Kumokagure and see us.

"Are you the ninjas we requested from Akatsuki?" One of them asks.

"Yeah, un," Deidara replies. I wince at the word 'Akatsuki'. It feels like I've been branded with a mark saying 'Akatsuki Member'. I look at Naruto and Sakura.

"Just go. I hope we meet again under better circumstances." I walk away. I can practically feel them looking at me sadly. Screwing up my eyes, I feel ashamed. I didn't want to be so mean to them, but everything just spilled out. All the anger, all the harsh feeling I kept pent up for weeks spilled in a torrent of cold words.

"You're not gonna get away," I hear Naruto growl to Deidara. He starts to reply, but I cut across him. "Just let it go. Come on." My voice is monotonous. When he still doesn't follow, I stretch out my vectors and grab the front of his cloak, dragging him after me. After a few minutes, Deidara wrenches himself away.

"Ino-chan, I-"

"I don't want to talk right now," I say tonelessly. He doesn't reply, and we follow the guards into Kumokagure.

* * *

This chapter wasn't as long as the other ones. I'll try to update soon, but with school and all that, it will be a bit slower from now on.

You might be wondering, why Kumokagure? Well, Kumokagure is close to the Akatsuki hideout.

Thanks for reading and please review!


	4. Outburst

Disclaimer: I can't think of a better disclaimer, so here goes: I don't own Naruto. But (looks down and reads story) hey, I own a land!

The Land of Strawberries belongs to me, though. It's a tribute to my friend who likes strawberries.

Warning- prepare for mass murder, random moments, parts that will probably make you laugh or at least smile, and a –wait, that's going to spoil it.

* * *

The guards lead us to a stone fortress. I can see guards with telescopes, scanning the area around us. Security is tight; I wonder what they are so anxious about.

Walking down a few corridors, I calm down. Meeting Sakura and Naruto was unsettling, but I guess I have to suck it up and move on. I did get one good thing from that encounter, though. Seeing my friends again motivates me to think harder and start working on my plan to get back to Konoha.

There's a man in royal garments sitting at the front of large room. He's probably the Raikage. I kneel down and bow my head. Deidara looks at me, surprised. I can have manners too, you know! Tugging him down by the sleeve, I try to push him in a respectful position.

"Stop it, un."

"It's _manners_. Come on." The Raikage hears our squabbling and releases a great chuckle. We look up.

"It's fine. Though I'm glad to know the lovely young lady has respect for me, I would rather get to the point of this mission." I flush lightly. Deidara smirks at me.

"Alright, what's the mission?" he says. I roll my eyes. Does he have to be so blunt?

The man looks grave. "A week ago, my son was kidnapped by a neighbouring country, the Land of Strawberries."

"They sound harmless," I say.

"Perhaps, but we have been at war with them for months now. Yesterday, I received a letter stating that we must hand over 2 million dollars (sorry, I find dollars easier to work with than yen) in three days or else."

"So you want us to get him back, un," says Deidara in a bored voice. That's so predictable, what this Raikage wants us to do. I stand up.

"Let's go," I say. Deidara and I are almost out of the room when the Raikage calls us back.

"Wait! It is best if you follow this plan of attack," he hands me a slip of paper and walks out of the room through another entrance. I take one look at the paper and then chase after the Raikage.

"Sir, this is your timetable," I say. He turns suspiciously red, and after thanking me, hands me the correct paper.

Later, flying to the Land of Strawberries, I turn to find Deidara laughing.

"What?" He looks at me mischievously.

"Did you see that guy, un? That paper must have had something indecent on it to make him turn so red." I laugh.

"What do you think it could have said? 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM- drug experimentation?" Deidara grins at me.

"5:00 to 7:00- having unprotected sex." I make a face.

"That's awful!"

"Yours was just as bad, un."

"Whatever. Hmm… 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM- serial killing."

"Good one, un." We spent a few more minutes throwing ideas back and forth about the Raikage's schedule. Even though most of the ideas are horny- and I actually did punch Deidara in the arm after he suggested that the Raikage was secretly a Chippendale dancer- it was fun to forget about everything and laugh. I look over at Deidara. He's not that bad after all. I pull out the instructions for the mission.

"These are ridiculous," I say. He looks over my shoulder. This is what the paper said:

'It is best to sneak in with a disguise, so as not to incur the wrath of the shinobi army. Also, you must find a way to retrieve the prince, my son, without harming him.'

"Well that's obvious," I mutter. Deidara chuckles.

"So are we just going to fly in there and ask them for the prince back?" I ask. He smirks at me.

"That would be great but then they'd kill him, un."

"Agreed. Ahh… maybe we should use that disguise strategy. You think they would notice a couple of dogs roaming around?"

"A couple of dogs murdering a bunch of guards while flying away on a giant white owl with the captive? Sure, why not, un?" I smile. He's got quite a sense of humor.

"First we'll have to find out exactly where this guy is. Then we break in and I'll make sure they won't behead him or whatever they have planned."

"How?"

"Vectors, remember? _Then _we can get the heck out of there."

"You're pretty bossy, you know that, un?"

"Can you come up with anything better?" I challenge. He gives me a sideways smirk.

"I bet I could, but let's go with your idea first." I roll my eyes and pretend to look exasperated, but he knows I'm faking it.

Deidara lands the bird outside the Strawberry daimyo's house. He thinks it's most likely the prince will be imprisoned there. There are a few maids walking around a garden near the house, so I hide close to them.

"Aww, Suki-chan, why did we get stuck with emptying out the garbage?" a girl with blond hair smoothes out her maid's uniform and swings a large plastic bag over her shoulder.

"It's a lot better for you than for me, you know! The daimyo takes a liking to you. Otherwise, you'd be emptying out the trash much more often. You're like his plaything." Her friend, a rather chubby girl with choppy brown hair grins at her friend. The other girl grimaces at her. I feel a pang of something strange. They remind me of myself and Sakura, rivals and yet best friends. How long will it be before I can joke with an old friend like these two girls can?

The blond girl stretches. "Yeah, you know the other day he said to me, 'You would be a good geisha, Kiyoko-chan.' Since when does he call me 'Kiyoko-chan'? He's a fat old geezer, and he smells like rotten fish." The two girls laugh, and start to walk away in the direction of the house. I quickly raise two of my vectors and jab the girls on the neck, so they become unconscious. Stepping out of the bush, I wind a few loops of twine around their wrists and ankles and hide them behind a tree. Henge-ing (I don't know the word for it. Is it Henging? Henge-ing?) into the girl called Kiyoko, I nod to Deidara.

"Aren't you coming?"

"Aww, do I have to be _her, _un" I give him an exasperated look.

"I suppose we could turn you into a dog instead. How about that? Or maybe a horse?" Deidara glares at me but henges into the other girl. I start walking away.

"Come back here when you're done, un," he calls over to me. I wave without turning around. _Finally_ I'm by myself. I walk up the front steps, only to face a large ornate wooden door. It's at least three times my height. I grimace; two seconds into the mission and I'm already intimidated? But I push open the door and walk in anyway.

Inside, the ceiling is painted with woefully nude female angels and is about twenty feet high. But there are pillars with intricate carvings of leaves and flowers on them, and all of them are sprayed with silver paint. I'd say this daimyo is a very rich pervert.

I make my way up several flights of long marble steps. On the way, I pass several maids, who smile at me. They are all wearing the same frilly white and black maid outfit I am. I feel ridiculous, but if my disguise can keep me out of trouble, I'll bear it. Suddenly, a group of giggling teenage maids rush out of an adjoining corridor and rush past me. A couple of the girls wink at me, and most of them even give me warning looks and point their thumbs to the corridor they just came from. As I stand there, confused, a short brunette squeaks to a stop next to me. She looks around frantically, and then gestures for me to come closer. I hesitantly stand next to her.

"The daimyo's coming. He wants you to come to _the geisha chambers_." Her whispering is fast and scared. She is probably Kiyoko's friend and doesn't want her to fall into the hands of the daimyo. I nod.

"Thanks," I say. She sends me a worried look and hurries after the other girls. When she's out of sight, I place my hands on my hips and walk straight into the corridor which the maids came from. I'm not afraid of some 'fat old fishy geezer' as Kiyoko referred to him. Ok, maybe a bit disgusted at the thought of meeting him, but definitely not scared. I peek into the hall.

An extremely overweight red-faced man is walking into a room. He wears elaborate scarlet and gold robes, which are paired with ridiculous shoes that curve up at the toes. A small golden crown sets off the whole ensemble, but even the glamour of the clothing cannot hide his ugliness. I stick my tongue out.

The daimyo turns to me, a wide grin spreading across his face.

"Kiyoko-chan! Just the woman I wanted to see. Come and make yourself at home," the daimyo says in a voice that most people would find elderly and kind, but ruined by the fact that his eyes trail over my- Kiyoko's- body. I curtsey, and walk over to him. Ugh, now I can see him up close. He's got greasy hair, yellow bloodshot eyes, and a tiny sneer hanging on his lips, which have bits of mustard still clinging to them. I think I might throw up if he wasn't looking.

"Go on, come in, don't be shy," encourages the daimyo. He places his hand on the small of my back and guides me into the room. I swear his hand shifted to my rear for a fraction of a second.

The room is large and attractive, with many oriental paintings of pandas and other nature. Futons lie on the floor, separated from others by a few feet. Bamboo screens divide the sleeping spaces from each other. In the center of the room, a group of a dozen or so geisha in fancy kimonos sit in a circle. A few of them look surprised to see me, but they smile and bow at the daimyo.

"Ladies, this is Kiyoko. She's going to be a novice geisha, so be nice to her," the daimyo unleashes a great laugh and slaps me on the back. I felt his fingers graze the top of my butt again. The geishas all smile at me.

"Kiyoko-san," they say. I smile back.

"It's okay, I shouldn't be called that. I'm very inexperienced. Kiyoko will be fine," I reply. The daimyo starts beside me, but regains his composure.

"Modest as always, Kiyoko-chan," he drawls. Another slap on the rear. I want to spank this guy, _right now._

"But modesty isn't the only thing Kiyoko needs. Discipline is also _highly_ valued in this okiya." The daimyo looks around sternly at all the geisha.

"I heard a rumor that you, Aizou-chan," he points at a delicate-looking girl with glossy black hair, who instantly pales. "You had a _boyfriend_ whom you met in a nearby restaurant. You were often going on dates with him and were rumored to have _rented a room at a hotel_." A few of the geisha gasp. The daimyo accusingly stares at the girl called Aizou. She trembles, and gives the daimyo a pleading look. He calms down slightly.

"I know this rumor to be false, but it has come to my attention that you have indeed been sneaking out at night. This is unacceptable. Yura-chan, please hand me the whipping rod." A geisha in a blue kimono stumbles to the corner of the room and removes a sturdy stick with several spikes protruding from its end. Aizou whimpers and buries her face in her hands. Taking the rod from the geisha, the daimyo smacks the stick several times against the palm of his hand. Then, he yanks at the frightened girl's obi. It instantly falls off and crumples to the floor. Pulling Aizou's kimono off until it bares her naked back, he leans over her and slashes the rod against her skin.

She screams. I see large, wet tears slide down her white cheeks. A large gash is showing clearly on her back. It's a diagonal strike, and blood is already bubbling out of the cut and leaking over her back. The daimyo pulls the rest of the kimono off her, and she lies naked in a sobbing pile on the ground.

"No use soiling this on a disobedient girl like you," he says. Then, he raises the horrible rod again and slashes another diagonal stroke across Aizou's back. She screams again, and now there's a bloody X on her back. Blood runs over her shoulders, into her rear and drips onto the floor. Why is he so cruel?

**You can end it all, you know. End this girl's suffering, stop that bast-rd**.

I hesitate. But the daimyo has been awful. I want to stop him, put an end to it all.

**Let's show him what we're made of. **

I exhale a long breath. I didn't realize I've been holding it in since the girl's torture started.

… _Ok. _

…

"**Girls," I say. The geishas all look at me. "You might want to turn around." Now they are staring quizzically at me. I un-henge myself, and snake a vector around the daimyo's stout neck. He splutters and chokes. My vector is invisible, but the geishas know enough to see that they daimyo is going to suffer. All of them turn around. **

**I face the daimyo. "You have been cruel, as merciless as the devil." I take a step closer. They daimyo is watching me with panic-stricken eyes. I do not care. **

"**This is for all who have suffered by your hand. I hope you rot in hell." In one sweeping motion, the daimyo's head plummets to the floor. I look at it scornfully. Aizou is still weeping, so I walk over to her and heal the gashes. She looks at me, surprised and yet grateful. I smile at her. **

"**You're going to be ok," I say. Handing her the kimono, I turn away and stand in front of the daimyo's head. I'm blocking it from the geishas' view. **

**Placing my vectors around the crown, I easily bend the metal over the daimyo's ears. Now, I can lift the crown and his head will follow. I won't have to touch that awful head. Then, I rip a piece of fabric and drape it on the stump of the daimyo's neck. The fabric is quickly stained with blood, but it spares the sight of decapitation. Now, it just looks like the daimyo went to sleep with a red cloth over his head. I turn around. The geishas are all staring at me, with innocent curiosity in their eyes. I'm glad I spared them the sight of bloodshed. **

"**Sorry," I say, "I'm a shinobi, sent here to retrieve the prince who was kidnapped from Kumokagure. Could someone tell me where he is?" **

**A tall girl in a red kimono points to her left. "Go that way, and the third room's the one they're keeping him in." She smiles. "Good luck." **

**I leave the room and turn the corner. Something drips to the floor, and I realize I'm still holding the daimyo's head by the crown. **

"**Hey, Ino-chan!" I look up. Deidara is coming towards me, and there's a teenage boy clutching his arm. By the way the prince is clinging to Deidara, and his body position, I think he could be 'fond' of my partner. I smirk inwardly, hopefully Deidara knows what he's in for. **

"**Hello," I say. Deidara smiles at me, but his smile fades away as we make eye-contact. He's noticed the red eyes. The prince tugs at his arm. **

"**Senpai, can we **_**go?**_**" The boy whines. He's a pain in the rear, I can already see that. Deidara glances at me again. **

"**I couldn't get him without getting the guards to notice, so they raised the alarm, un." Right after he says that, I hear the sound of a blaring siren, followed by shouts from the guards. **

"**Senpai, you'll protect me, right?" says the prince. Deidara looks at him, probably in exasperation. **

"**You get off me, un." The prince steps away and looks hurt. By then, I've already begun walking down the corridor. There's a balcony in one of the rooms, so I walk into the room and look over the edge of the balcony. An army of guards have assembled in the middle of a courtyard. **

"**Looks like we'll have to fight our way out," I mutter. Then, I remember what I'm holding and smirk. **

"**I might as well return something to them." **

"**Ino-chan, what are you-" Deidara starts to say. I stretch my hand, the one that holds the head of the daimyo, over the balcony and drop it. It plummets down, and finally lands with a wet **_**splat**_**. All the guards look over at the head. The man closest to the head collapses on the ground, dropping his spear in the process. **

"**It's- it's the d-daimyo!" he exclaims. The other guards look up, and see the three of us on the balcony. **

"**Hey, are you the ones who killed him?" One of the guards calls to us. I sneer at him. **

"**Took you long enough to figure it out." My eerie cold voice echoes across the courtyard. I see a few guards shudder. One of the guards makes binoculars with his fingers and peers up at me. **

"**You're not a bad-looking b-tch. How about you whack all of us and we'll let you off the hook for killing the daimyo?" The other guards wolf-whistle and cheer. I roll my eyes and turn to Deidara. **

"**You take him and go. I'm going down there." **

"**But Ino-chan, what if-" I slam two of my vectors into the balcony and push off. I fly in the air for a few moments, and then land in front of the guards. **

"**Oh kami, she flies!" says one of the guards. I narrow my eyes at them. **

"**Are you scared to kill me?" I ask. Smirking at them, I raise a few of my vectors and decapitate the first row of soldiers. Blood flies everywhere, and the guards behind them are splattered with the red liquid.**

"**It's the devil! Run!" yells a guard. A few shinobi run at me with kunais. They throw these at me, but the kunais just bounce off my vectors. I catch a few of them with my vectors and throw them back at the ninjas, at higher speeds. A ninja falls over, I embedded a kunai through his forehead. Blood spurts heavily out of the wound, and another shinobi stops to heal him. There's no hope, he's already dead. Someone runs at me with a Chidori in their hand, but I just slice the offending arm off and kill them while I'm at it. **

**I take a few steps closer, and everyone within my reach is instantly horribly mutilated. Only pausing to step away from a falling head, and to kick an arm away, I keep walking. Pushing my vectors into the ground, I leave two handprints sunk in the earth. Jumping in the air, I fly over the heads of the shinobi and land directly in the center of the group. **

**As soon as I land, jutsus filled with chakra come flying and crash into my shield of vectors. There are so many, I can't tell the difference between jutsus. **

"**It's not working! Retreat!" A shinobi yells. I snort scornfully. **

"**Oh, you're not going anywhere," I say. Stretching my vectors out, I can see that everyone within my radius, which is all the shinobi here, won't survive. Anticipating the bloodshed, I smirk. **

"**Farewell, humans," I mutter. Sweeping my vectors in a circle, I watch as the shinobi die in an explosion of blood and limbs. Blood splashes all over me, but I don't care. I'm a diclonius, and this is what I am here for. To end the human race. From the eyes of the fallen around me, I know that my vectors and sweet cruelty was the last thing they saw. Savoring my victory, blood pounding in my ears from the thrill of violence, I let myself slip away.**

I open my eyes. I'm standing in the middle of a stone courtyard. Blood is dripping from my clothes, and I have to wipe away the crimson liquid that leaks from my hair. What happened here? There are people beheaded, missing limbs. All of them have fear in their eyes, and more than half are looking at me. I stumble backwards, and trip over my vectors, into a puddle of blood. Then I realize- I'm the reason these people are dead.

Staggering over to a wall, I lean backwards and close my eyes. But nothing can stop the guilt and horror that is pouring out of my heart, filling up every bit of my mind. I said the daimyo had been cruel, but what he was is nothing compared to the demon I have become. Laying my blood-dripping head on my arms, I bury my face in my knees.

Days, hours, minutes, I don't know, later, I hear footsteps. They're approaching me, and every step is squeaking with blood. I screw my eyes shut tightly. I don't want company. My burden, my guilt is for me alone.

"Ino-chan?" I know it's Deidara but I don't look up. I hear movement, and a hand on my shoulder. He shakes me lightly, but I don't stir.

"I know you're awake, un." I slowly raise my head, not looking at him. I'm not sure why I am afraid to face anyone right now. Then I realize- looking at someone, to me, would be admitting that I have done something wrong, done something worse than wrong. So I don't look.

"What's wrong?" He sounds genuinely curious. I don't want to speak, but somehow something breaks inside me and I let go.

"I killed," I say. My voice is heavy, and full of guilt. "Dozens of people. I didn't even want to, it just… happened." Then I lower my head. "Why did I do that? I didn't _have_ to kill them, but something just burst out; maybe I- I really am an awful thing inside. I'm awful, no- worse than that. I'm a cruel murderer who doesn't care about anyone else. I had a choice, I could have let those people live, but instead I killed them all. I should die." I close my eyes halfway. There's movement near me. Maybe Deidara's going to activate that bomb inside me and kill me? But instead, I feel wetness on my cheek.

I look up. His palm is a few centimeters from my face, and the tongue is sticking out. Did it lick me? I blink, and squirm away. Deidara is smiling at me, and I grimace slightly.

"What was that for?"

"It's a reality check, un." I blink again.

"Huh?" He sighs.

"Ino-chan, no one can go through life being perfect. And if you're a true shinobi, you have to kill people sometimes, un. It's like ridding the world of evil, you know?"

"But-"

"Besides," Deidara cuts me off, "would you rather bang all those shinobi just so that idiot and I could run, or kill them all?" I frown.

"That's not much of a choice."

"My point is, saving them wouldn't have been worth it. You didn't kill a bunch of saints. So don't feel too bad about it. You can make up for it by being nice and whatever crap you stand by, un."

"I don't 'stand by crap'." He doesn't seem to notice I said that and examines the blood all over me.

"We better get you to a shower or something. I can't lick the blood off, unless you want me to, un." Deidara holds up his palm. The mouth there is licking its teeth, as if it's anticipating what it is going to taste. I laugh.

"Thanks," I say, and I smile. "You're a good friend." Something flashes in his eyes for a moment, but then it's gone. I think I imagined it. We fly back to Kumokagure, where the Raikage generously offers to have a bath drawn and some clothing to be provided for me. I accept, while Deidara says something about how I better not take too long.

They let me use the maid's washroom, so I sink myself in the large bathtub. Water rushes around my head, and the steam smells of clover. But I shouldn't take too long, so after a few minutes I dry myself and turn to examine the clothing. After a moment of examining the outfit, I smirk. Wait till Deidara sees me.

As I walk into the room, Deidara is sitting on the floor cross-legged. I guess someone gave him a bowl of peanuts, which he's eating, so I wait for a few moments.

"Hey, do I look ok?" I ask. When he finally turns to look at me, I don't think I've ever seen him look so shocked. I smile. It really is quite some outfit that the Raikage gave me.

The shirt is a purple off the shoulder long sleeved top, with golden curling designs on the bottom right corner and under the collar. I always thought that revealing shoulders was a fashion trick many girls don't always take advantage of. I'm also wearing a pair of black fairly loose pants with white snowflakes sewn around the pockets. This is the nicest set of cute-yet-casual clothes I've ever worn. I smile, and he grins back at me. Then, a minister wearing brown robes walks into the room, stops, and ogles at me. A large smile breaks across his face.

"My, my. Who's this pretty young lady? Are you a new geisha? I hope I'm correct. It will be _very_ pleasant to have you entertain at our formal dinners." At that moment, Deidara, I think, chokes on a peanut. But his coughing doesn't sound real. It may sound genuine to anyone who isn't a ninja, but I am one and I can tell the difference. Just in case I'm wrong, I walk over and punch him in the stomach so he can 'breathe' again.

_Cough cough cough _– then there's a sound which I'm not sure I can describe, but I can describe the sight of it. Deidara spat the peanut out at a _very_ high speed, where it shot across the room and hit the minister in the eye. The man stumbled out of the room, and I made sure we left just as fast. Once we were seated on the bird, I looked accusingly at Deidara.

"Ok, what was that for?"

"I choked, un. Don't they teach you that in Konoha?" I raise my eyebrows.

"I'm a medic-nin, so I can tell the difference between a real cough and a fake cough. And I find it hard to believe that you, while supposedly coughing your lungs out, can spit a peanut so that it directly hits some guy who happened to be flirting with me at that moment." I look straight at Deidara. He smirks.

"Not so witless after all, aren't you, un?"

"I was never useless." He scoffs and brushes hair out of his face. As he does so, I catch a glimpse of a red mark.

"Hey, what's that?"

"What?"

"That!" I point at him. "Did someone slap you or something?" Deidara sighs.

"Idiot prince tried to go at it on me (you interpret this yourself) so I yelled at him and he slapped me. Are you happy?" I giggle at this, and then the giggles turn into full blown laughter. Before I know it, I'm nearly falling off the bird.

"-laugh- I knew it! He -laugh- was gay after all!" I can hardly get out a sentence. "Hahahahaha -cough- you got slapped by a guy -hahahaha!" I've utterly lost it, but I don't mind. Laughter is my way of getting out stress, and can you expect me not to poke fun at the fact that a gay guy tried to hit on Deidara and slapped him?

He waits for me to finish laughing, with a half-amused, half-exasperated face.

"Are you done yet?"

"-cough cough- I think so." I lean backwards on the bird and look at the night sky above.

"What do the stars remind you of?" I ask. He thinks for a moment, and says "Explosions that my art makes."

"That's such a Deidara response," I say. "It's exactly what I expected you to say." I laugh and face the sky again.

"What's wrong with that, un?"

"Nothing." This talk about stars reminds me of something. After a few moments, I sit up.

"I think they're like people weeping."

"Really."

"I heard a song about it once. I think it was about… two lovers who couldn't be together. There was this one beautiful line it in that I really liked."

"What did it say, un?" I turn to face him.

"_The stars in the sky are like people weeping for our love_. Something like that." There's a sudden gust of wind, and it blows Deidara's hair out of his face. He is looking at me with a strange expression in his eyes. I've never seen anyone look at me like that before. Then the wind stills, and the spell is broken. I lie back on the bird, and he turns away.

"Good night," I say.

"Good night, Ino-chan."

* * *

Wow, I thought my previous chapters were long, but this is the longest yet!

That line about the stars is really from a Cantonese song I know. It's by Anita Mui, if you want to know. I don't know the title though. Apparently it's a duet between her and someone else.

Yeah, I know there's a lot of bloodshed in this. But the next chapter is friendlier.

I noticed that we still don't know Ino's vector range and number. That will be revealed in the next chapter.

Thanks for reading and please review!


	5. Friend

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, but if I did I don't think people would like it as much. I do own the plot of Flying on a Red Cloud, though!

Except for the first little bit, this chapter contains no violence at all. It's sort of a foil to the previous chapter, no?

This chapter is contains some Elfen Lied cross-overs.

When you see this (look down)

_Chapter divider because the star key doesn't work_

It means that I want to put a chapter divider without actually creating a new chapter. The star key doesn't work for fanfiction, so until I can think of a better chapter divider, that's that.

Also, if you like the story but don't like DeiIno, don't read the ending of this chapter. It gets a little… well I won't spoil it for the DeiIno fans, me included.

* * *

Weeks have passed since the mission at Kumokagure. I've been busy, going through my missions while trying to keep my death toll neutral. I don't snap and start killing anymore. That's been kept under control by me.

I'm better friends with Deidara and Tobi now. Well, I thought it was better to be friends with someone who you're with 24/7 than to be enemies, so I guess I inwardly called a truce to that fact. And for Tobi, Zetsu is always somewhere enjoying his solitude, so Tobi comes and 'hangs' with us, as he likes to put it.

Something's missing. Even though I do like those two, I miss having a friend, a female one, to talk to about 'girl stuff' and share my take on the world with. Maybe fate will intervene?

The days get colder and colder. My spot on the floor isn't getting any warmer, so I thought about asking for a bed, or at least a futon. I always scratch that thought out, though. I've slept on worse, so this is nothing new to me. It started snowing yesterday. I learned Tobi LOVES making snowmen. So I tried to find some stones to make the snowman's mouth while Tobi tried to roll snowballs and Deidara carved ice.

I walk out on the peak of a mountain and look out. The tops of the other mountains look like someone dumped a can of flour on them, and there could be little flecks of fluffy icing sugar falling from the sky. Smiling at my metaphor, I stick my tongue out and catch a snowflake. It has no taste.

Then something hits me, and I'm not sure what it is. I've had the feeling all the time while I was at the facility, and back there the scientists told me that all diclonius have a special sixth sense. Apparently, this allows a diclonius to sense whenever another diclonius or silpelit is near. I shiver. Does that mean that there is another diclonius near by? I look around. The feeling comes from the south, so I walk that way. From the strength of the feeling, I think the diclonius is not as strong as I am, but could still be a formidable opponent. Propelling myself in the air, I fly across the gap between two mountains, landing on the side of the other one. Running around trees and scrambling over rock, I climb higher and higher. A gust of wind splays across my face, and I sniff the air. Smoke. There's a campfire nearby. Scurrying to the top of a tree, I look around. A black trickle is floating above a gap in the forest, so I venture that way. Soon, I'm next to the clearing, hiding on a branch, and I hear a voice.

"You sure you felt something?" A gruff masculine voice says.

"Yes," says a female voice. I think the girl is a couple of years younger than me. But the sense is stronger now. This girl is a diclonius. But is she on my side, or the man's?

"But it's weaker now. She must be going away." I exhale softly. But why does she not want me to be discovered? Even though I don't know why, I'm grateful to this girl.

"Hmph. That cowardly b-tch."

"No use being a foul mouth. It's not going to help at all."

"Shut up! You're just being as useless right now. Why did they stick me out here with you just to find some other freak of nature?" There's a pause. Then the man's voice returns. Now it has a trace of something else in it; it sounds predatory. Lust?

"Hmm… maybe we can make use of you after all. Take off your clothes."

"What?!"

"It's f-cking cold and I'm bored. You're a silpelit, it doesn't matter what I do to you. Take 'em off." I've heard enough. Looking around the tree, I stretch out my vectors. He's wearing a black jacket and black pants, and is looming over the girl. Wrapping my vectors around his neck, I promptly whisk his head off. With a _crack!_ it flies off and the body slumps to the ground. Jumping off the branch, I land at the foot of the tree. I don't feel any shame or regret in killing that man because the girl would have been scarred for life if I hadn't done anything. Also, I highly doubt the guy was any good.

The girl looks at me. She has dark pink hair and red eyes. I think she's fourteen or so. She wears a black toque with a light blue sweater and a pair of black sweatpants. I smile.

"Hi."

"Hi! Aren't you that girl we're supposed to capture?" she says. I blink.

"Um, yeah. So you're a diclonius too, huh?"

"Yup. They think I'm a silpelit, but I haven't shown any signs that I'm really a diclonius." I'm impressed. She's pretty sharp.

"How?" She pulls her knees up and rests her chin on them.

"Whenever I get my period, I cut the napkins that they give me at meal times in half and use the clean half to- you know, absorb the stuff. I hide the used ones under a tile in the floor. So when I get the napkins, I just shove it-"

"Ok, that's a little graphic," I say. She laughs and smiles at me.

"What's your name?"

"Yamanaka Ino. But just call me Ino. And yours?"

"Yumi Miyonoko. You can just call me Momo, 'cause I think Miyonoko's too long for me." Momo grins. "I've always thought that my parents gave me a name that was way too fancy for me. My dad would always laugh and say I was a spunky girl, and my mom would show that happy smile of hers." Her voice drifts off, and a hint of sadness flashes in her eyes. I smile gently.

"Well, you're free from the facility now. Do you know where your parents are?" There's that look in her eyes again. But it fades, and now she's smiling.

"Let's get some food cooking and set up the sleeping bags. I'll tell you later." Momo pulls a few packets of tomato soup powder from a satchel and pours water from a bottle into a metal pot. While she mixes the soup, I add some logs to the fire and set up a large green tent. I also dig a hole and shove the man's torso and head inside it. Covering the hole with dirt, I turn to see Momo holding two sleeping bags.

"The black one's mine. You don't mind using that awful man's sleeping bag?"

"Has he ever slept in it?" I ask. Momo shrugs. I stick my head inside the sleeping bag. After a quick sniff, I withdraw my head and turn to Momo.

"All clear. Or should I disinfect it first? Maybe I'll throw some pine needles inside to freshen it up." We both laugh, even though what I said wasn't really that funny. Momo hands me a cup of soup, and we sit close to the fire.

Momo sips her soup. "Hey Ino-chan, how many vectors do you have and how long are they?" I put down my cup.

"The facility thinks I have six vectors and that they're six meters long, right?" She grins.

"You're avoiding the question. I can sense how strong you are, and it's not even remotely close to my vector strength. So how many?"

"Thirty vectors, twenty meters long," I say. Momo whistles.

"No wonder the facility wants to capture you so badly."

"So how many do _you _have?" Momo's eyes glaze over again. She's thinking about something that isn't really that pleasant for her.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," I say quickly. She snaps out of it and grins.

"Nah, I don't mind. I have three vectors that are three meters long each. You see, I'm half diclonius."

"Oh." We finish our soup in silence, and after a quick bathroom trip, enter the tent. Momo slips right into her sleeping bag, and I slide into it awkwardly. It's much more cozy than my place on the floor back at Akatsuki. Speaking of Akatsuki, I wonder if they know where I am. Well, we haven't been ambushed yet. And besides, didn't I want a little bit of freedom?

The wind howls outside. Momo turns her head to the outside of the tent.

"Snow storm's coming. You worried?" I shake my head.

"No, you?"

"Nah. I think we can handle it." She's silent for a few moments. We listen to the storm billowing. Then, she turns to me.

"Remember how I said I was half-diclonius?" I flip over and face her.

"Yeah. So how are you half-diclonius?" Momo looks at the ceiling, as if searching for a spot in her mind where she could relax and tell me her story.

"I've always stayed at my parent's home ever since I was born. I was home schooled, so I never was teased by anyone or discriminated because of my horns. My parents were instrument makers. They owned a little shop with a house over it, and that was where we lived. My parents' instruments were special, because my mother was a diclonius and used her vectors to carve them. Carving music boxes was her specialty. She and my father shared a special music box. Apparently, they met when they were children because he had played the song of the music box and she heard it and liked it too. I lived happily and peacefully for fourteen years."

"Weren't there any other kids your age?" I asked. It didn't seem right that she was isolated from the world for her whole life. Momo chuckled.

"My father's cousin had a few children. They came over to my house a lot. I remember them as fun people who could be a little annoying or wild at some times. And there was always Aunty Nana and Aunty Mayu, my mother's sisters."

"Oh, I see."

"Anyway, a group of men came by. They said that they were searching the area for diclonius. My parents tried to hide me, but eventually I was discovered. So I was taken from my old life and shoved into a nightmare." I pat her shoulder.

"Same here," I say, "except my village banished me after they found out I was a diclonius." She looks at me, surprised, but then we both find ourselves smiling.

"We've got exciting lives, huh?"

"Yeah. Is there more to your story?"

"Uh-huh. The scientists found out from my DNA that I was the child of the first diclonius, a girl called Lucy. Lucy was my mother, and my father was called Kouta. I guess they'd hunted for Lucy a long time ago, so they were really happy to get her daughter."

"Did they find your mother?" I say softly. Somehow, I think it would be respectful to Lucy to speak softly. Momo smiles.

"Nope. My parents escaped, but I don't think I'll ever see them again." Her voice trails off. I'm silent for a few moments, but then I smile.

"Don't worry, we'll find a place for you in this world." I lie on my back. "The world's an awful place, but also a nice place too." Momo laughs.

"Just like the anime show. 'This Ugly Yet Beautiful World'." She looks at me.

"Hey Ino-chan, we haven't talked about you yet. So what are these people you live with like?" I hesitate for a moment, but Momo looks eager to hear me. And I've got nothing better to say. After taking a long breath, I tell Momo about my banishment, how I found about I was a diclonius, the Akatsuki and how they're a criminal organization, about the partner thing, about the bomb inside me, about my trances which always resulted in many people dying, about everything. She's silent for a few moments. I don't blame her, it's a quite a bit to take in.

"So this partner of yours, what's he like?" Momo asked. I thought about that for a moment.

"Artistic, he says 'un' at the end of his sentences, he's sort of nice to me, so I guess I'm lucky, and he likes blowing stuff up."

"Oh, is he like a chemist where you pour one chemical into another chemical and it goes boom?"

"Ha, not really. He has these mouths on his hands that eat clay and somehow give it the ability to explode or something. Then he shapes the clay and then uses the sculptures to explode things." Momo raises an eyebrow.

"That's pretty anarchistic. And for the mouth thing, three guesses what _other_ uses they have." I make a face.

"Eww, Momo!"

What does he look like?" That's another question that I have to think about.

"He _sort of_ looks like me a bit. Our hairstyles are really similar. And there's something weird with his left eye, since it's a mechanical one. Actually, I don't know if he covers up his eye or just lost it."

"Is he hot?" I find myself flushing at that comment.

"He looks feminine, Momo-chan. Are feminine guys hot?"

"I have no clue. Do _you_ think he's hot? I notice you haven't said his name, so I'm just going to give him one. Ok, Ino-chan, is Mr. Lovely hot?"

I roll over and half glare, half smile at her. "What?!"

"Well, he's a guy, so that sums up the 'Mr.' part, and he's feminine looking, so that's the 'Lovely' part. You can't call a girly guy handsome, so he's 'lovely' instead. And you still haven't answered me!"

I huff and look at the ceiling again. "Fine, he's hot in his own way. Happy?" I can practically _hear_ Momo smile beside me.

"Are you two together?"

"What?!"

"Together, Ino-chan. Coupled, Hooked up, that stuff."

"I know what it means! No, we're not together, coupled, or hooked up!"

"Yeah, I can see why. We're not even sure if he's a guy or not. Is Mr. Lovely a guy?"

"It would ease my fear of getting sexually intimate if he were a girl."

"Have you pantsed him yet?" I instantly roll over and glare at Momo.

"No!"

"Then how do you know if he's a guy or not? –gasp- You better get to it right away!"

"God, Momo!" I exclaim. I shake my head. "Man, you've got a lot of energy on this subject, don't you?" She smiles at me, mischievousness laced in every corner of her mouth.

"It's hard to believe nothing's happened between you two yet. Any other guy would have been all over my Ino-chan by now," she says jokingly.

"Gee, really?"

"Yup. You're a photogenic one." I roll my eyes and she laughs.

"Good night, Momo."

"Good night! Have sweet dreams of Mr. Lovely!" I reach over and swat her lightly on the shoulder. Momo laughs and rolls over. I stare at the ceiling. I wonder how everyone at Akatsuki is. Do they wonder where I am?

_Chapter divider because the star key doesn't work_

Sunlight filters through the fabric of the tent. I heave open my groggy eyes and stare at the rays that strike the cloth at various angles. Where am I?

There's a snore beside me. I turn, and there's Momo, scrunched up inside her sleeping bag. She looks like she's having a nice dream. I exit the tent, rolling up my sleeping bag. There's fresh snow everywhere. The fire pit is covered with snow, I can't find it anywhere. The trees are all sagging with the weight of fresh powder. I can still smell the scent of pine, and the world seems to shimmer before my eyes. Suddenly overcome with the urge to run around, I laugh and flop onto my back. Waving my arms and legs around, I watch the clouds float overhead as I make a snow angel. Getting up, I roll a few snowballs and wait for Momo to exit the tent. A few minutes later, she walks out, stretching and yawning.

"Morning, Ino-cha -" I hurl a snowball in her direction. It collides with her stomach and falls off, leaving tiny particles of snow on her sweater. She scowls at me.

"Hey!"

"You snooze, you lose," I say. She grins, and whips up some snow into another snowball.

"Oh, you're in for it now!" Momo yells. I laugh and scramble away. There's a gap between a few trees; I leap for it and Momo's snowball smacks me in the face. Wiping the snow away, I see the ground a few dozen feet below me. Wait- a few dozen feet? I didn't jump that high. Too late. Good job, Ino, you've just jumped over a cliff! But I can still reach for a tree with my vectors. So I turn around and-

"Gotcha!" Momo yells in my ear. She jumped over the same cliff I did. Great. Since I was distracted by her sudden yell, I forgot to stretch my vectors out. We plummet down, wind rushing past our ears. In desperation, I form a vector shield. Luckily my vectors are long enough to curve around the two of us.

"Oof!" I smack down hard in the snow.

"Yaaaa-" _Whumph!_ Momo hits the ground beside me. We're splayed out on the ground. The snow compacts around my head, and I'm lucky that nothing's broken because of my vectors. A few moments later, we both sit up. I can see Momo has snow caked on her face, forming a beard and a pair of bushy white eyebrows. There's something heavy on my head. Reaching up with my vectors, I move them through whatever it is. The snow has squashed together and formed a pair of reindeer antlers on my head. I look at Momo. She looks at me. We both burst out laughing.

"Nice beard," I say after a few minutes. She grins at me.

"Those antlers look nice on you. Maybe you should model them for Mr. Lovely!" Momo starts laughing again, and I pluck the 'antlers' off.

"I don't feel like cooking breakfast. You?"

"Me neither. That facility jerk left his wallet here. You want to leave this place and grab something to eat?" I have to think about this for a while. I don't think Akatsuki would like it very much if I left. But I'm not running away. And besides, I'll be back before evening. I smile at Momo. Somehow, she's got this quality about her that makes you relax when you're with her.

"Sure. But we should get back by, I don't know, evening?" She nods.

"Let's go find that cash!" I laugh and we climb back up the cliff face and back to the camp. Momo leaps for a black bag and throws everything out to find the wallet. I duck to avoid a pack of cigarettes and a lighter.

"You sure are hungry, aren't ya?"

"Starving. Found it!" Momo holds up a leather wallet. She opens it, and we peek at it's contents.

"Whoa."

"You can say that again, Ino-chan. He was a loaded idiot, wasn't he? How much is in here, six, seven hundred?" After packing everything up, we look for the boat that Momo and the man took to get to the island. There are a couple tanks of fuel, so we don't worry about running out. Momo runs the engine, and soon we speed away. Looking back, I feel a little worried. What if they decide to cut my leg off or something? But looking back at Momo, who's facing the horizon with a smile on her face, my apprehension vanishes. Akatsuki won't kill me. And I would rather be on a boat traveling to somewhere with my new friend than be stuck in a cave with a group of murderers.

A couple of hours later, I jump off the boat into a small lagoon that's sheltered by rock above. Momo grins at me.

"This should hide the boat pretty well, don't you think?"

"Yeah," I say. It takes a few minutes of walking to find a nearby town. I think it's a non-shinobi place, none of the people wear shinobi vests nor have headbands. Entering a restaurant, we sit down and look at the menu.

"You know you shouldn't eat sunny-side up eggs? Apparently the raw egg yolk has salmonella or something in it. Cooked ones are fine," Momo says. I look up at her, surprised.

"Wow, Momo-chan, you know a lot of stuff I've never heard of." She smiles.

"Don't think of me as that great. I'm pretty blunt, I say whatever I want, and I don't care what other people think of me." But I smile right back.

"But you're funny and nice. And you're my friend," I say. Momo breaks out in a wide smile.

"I've never had a friend before besides my cousins and my family. Thanks, Ino-chan." The waitress comes with my toast and Momo's pancakes. She gobbles them up like a wolf who hasn't eaten in a week ravages a fat deer.

"You've got a good appetite, Momo-chan. My friend back in Konoha would _love_ you," I say, thinking of Chouji. Wait- that's it!

"That's it!" I yell. Momo looks up at me, a piece of pancake falling out of her mouth. I'm standing up, arms raised in the air. A few customers are staring. I quickly sit down, and Momo picks up the pancake bit.

"What's it?"

"Konoha! I can get Zetsu to transport you to Konoha, and I'll ask my parents to take you in! They won't mind because you're my friend, and they'll need extra help around the shop anyway. You can be like my sister!" I smile broadly. I feel like I've fixed the world. Momo looks startled.

"That's a good idea. I think I can work off the expenses of keeping me in your flower shop. But one problem- how can you get this Zetsu guy to transport me to Konoha?" I shrug.

"Well, I guess I'll owe him a favour, but that's ok." Momo beams, and leans over the table to hug me.

"Thanks loads, Ino-chan. You're the best." She sits back down and waggles her finger at me.

"See, even you have things that I don't. I can't and won't charm a guy for hell, and I'm not as willing to help people." I choked on my toast. Momo stretched her vector over and patted me on the back.

"What do you mean, I 'charm guys'?" Momo laughs.

"Seriously, Ino-chan, sorry but you're hopeless when it comes to the subject of the other gender."

"Hey, I know enough so that I haven't been killed, sexually taken advantage of, nor physically harmed in anyway for weeks with the Akatsuki guys!"

"Meh, I'll give you that. But you've given up on any chances of getting a guy, haven't you?" I stare at her. Wow, she's smart.

"What kind of guy would like a girl who can lash out and strangle him any second? Guys are egotistic that way; they always want to have the advantage over the girl." Momo rolls her eyes.

"While I agree for the part about the having advantage part, I think you should be more open-minded."

"I'll worry about being open-minded when I have the urge to keep the diclonius race from becoming extinct."

"Hahaha very funny, Ino." Momo sighs and leans back in her chair. She closes her eyes. "There's always Mr. Lovely though." I snap forward and narrow my eyes at Momo.

"You were just bringing up the topic so we could talk about _him_, weren't you?" Momo opens one eye at me.

"Smart girl, aren't ya?" She opens both her eyes and grins at me.

"Well, we're talking about him so I might as well get on with it. Does he have a thing for you and do you like him?" I sigh tremendously.

"Didn't we talk about this yesterday?" Momo smiles, raising one corner of her mouth.

"_That _was about whether you two were together or not. _This_ is about whether he likes you and you like him."

"Were you preparing your argument for when we talked about this?"

"Pretty much."

"Huh. My affection for him is strictly platonic friendship or partnership. I haven't flat out asked him 'do you have a crush on me' so I guess he thinks I'm a friend or partner too. Why're you so curious?" Momo chuckles.

"Come on, you're my friend. I want to know about your life and help you improve your relationships."

"Sure…" Momo whips out the wallet and fans herself with some five dollar bills.

"Say, what are we going to do with all this cash?" We're silent for a few moments. Then Momo's face brightens.

"Ino-chan, want to learn how to skate?" I tilt my head to the side.

"What?"

"I didn't think you knew how, being a ninja and all that you must not have time for skating. Anyway, do you have four knives?" I take out some kunais.

"Are these ok?"

"Fine. Now follow me." After paying the bill, Momo takes me to a shoe shop where she buys two pairs of shoes that can be laced at the ankles. Then, she borrows some twine and ties the kunais to the new shoes, one kunai per shoe. When she's finished, she handsd me a pair.

"Now let's find a pond or something." It takes an unbelievably long time to find _anything_ frozen. A lake, a pond, a river, they're all hard to find in this place. Finally, we discover a lake in the middle of the forest. Momo looks at me.

"Stick your vector in there to test how thick the ice is." I stretch my vectors out.

"Hmm… about 2 feet on the sides and 1 foot of ice in the middle."

"Perfect." Momo laces her shoes on and glides to the center of the lake.

"How do you do that?" I ask.

"You just move your legs. This is called skating. Ino-chan, if you're scared to fall you can balance with your vectors." I hesitantly step on the ice. Shifting my left leg, it slide out from underneath me and I fall on the ice.

"Ow!"

"You have to maintain your balance. Think of it as running or walking on ice, except even better because you're more graceful and you can spin and jump and all that." So I get up. When I feel one leg slide, I shift the other one. Pretty soon, I've done a few laps of the lake. Momo slides past and smiles at me.

"You're pretty good! Now let's try something else." She kicks off into the air with one leg, and pirouettes once. Landing on the ice, she turns to me.

"You try that." So skating to a clear spot on the ice, I take a deep breath. Momo said it was like dancing or running, except much faster, right? I spun on the toe of my right foot, and jumped in the air, pirouetting twice. Then I skated backwards, arms out in the air, and twirled my body around. Now I know why Momo wanted to teach me how to skate. It gives me the feeling of flying like a bird while staying on the earth. I bend myself backwards, and back flip on the ice, landing in a crouched position. Suddenly, there's clapping near by. I look up to see Momo whistling and clapping her hands together. She skates over to me.

"How do you do that? I never taught you that stuff. You're even better than I am." I straighten up.

"Well, you have to be careless."

"Careless? Won't you fall?"

"If you're scared of falling, you'll never learn to really skate." I smile.

"You taught me that yourself, Momo." She grins at me.

"So I guess I'm a good teacher, huh?" Momo chuckles. Then, she turns to me with a curious look on her face.

"Ino-chan, when you were out there, you had this strange look on your face. What was it?" I look at the sky and think.

"Skating felt… exhilarating. I think I let everything go, like whatever I was worrying about and my fears, and just spilled everything out into my movements." I look at Momo. "Does that make sense?"

"Only to a person who's had that feeling before," she says. Then she smiles. "I'm glad you're happy."

I sneeze. "We should go back now. Skating makes you warm, but then you get cold." As if agreeing, Momo sneezes too. We both laugh.

Finding a restaurant, we both plop in a booth. Momo points behind me.

"Hey, there's a tv." I turn around. A man in a yellow raincoat steps on the screen. Obviously, it's a news forecast.

"Hey there folks! I'm Mill Mayles and today I'm going to teach you- the five tips for avoiding a rampaging panda." Momo and I burst out laughing.

"Who names their kid Mill?" Momo says between laughter. (Sorry if your name is Mill or you know someone named Mill. I just thought it was a funny name.)

"Do pandas rampage?" I ask. Mill Mayles clears his throat.

"First, never approach a male panda during mating season. You could end up with bamboo sticks in _deadly_ painful places." I spit out my hot chocolate while Momo rolls around in her seat, laughing her butt off.

"_Deadly_ painful places, -snort-" Momo chortles. I cough out the drops of hot chocolate.

"Who thinks this guy needs to get out more?" I ask. Momo raises her hand, just as the waiter comes by. Unfortunately, she accidentally punches the tray and the waiter dumps our lunch all over us. Momo's eyes widen.

"Oh gosh, I'm sorry! I'll pay for that and an extra order," she says. I pick a strand of spaghetti out of my hair.

"Nice one, Momo." She looks sheepishly at me.

"We'll have to find a bathhouse afterward." So after we finish eating, I find myself in a giant tub with Momo. We're both scrubbing out the sauce in hair.

"God, Momo, did you have to order spaghetti?" I ask.

"Give me a break, that ranch dressing from your salad is behind my ear. Can you scrub it out?" Momo turns her ear to me. I wash the incriminating dressing from her ear with my sponge.

"Thanks." Then she looks at me with another of her mischievous expressions.

"What are you doing?" Momo smirks.

"Trying to imagine you in another tub waiting for Mr. Lovely with _candles_ and a _darkened_ _room_, all _wet_ and _nude_." I splash Momo.

"Lay off the Mr. Lovely references, will ya? And besides, sexy bathes aren't my type." She chortles and leans back.

"Yeah, I suppose posing in racy lacy stuff works just as well." I stick my tongue out at Momo.

"Hey Ino-chan, how're you going to escape from Akatsuki?" Momo asks. Her question throws me off guard. And I thought she was going to throw another question about Deidara.

"I don't know…" I say. Momo shakes her head.

"I have two words for you: Mr. Lovely."

"I thought we weren't going to talk about him!"

"No, if you and him get together, he might like you enough to want to help you escape, like wanting the best for you. Think about it, Ino-chan. It might work!"

I raise my finger. "A) Momo, it would be mean to him. B) It's much more likely that he would want to keep me with him. People like him are probably possessive."

"Come on, admit it. It would be a good idea." I hesitate. Momo's right, it _would_ be a good idea. But he would be hurt, and that would be a very sly thing to do. Wait- since when did I care whether he was happy or not? Sigh, Momo's right. I can be too nice sometimes or too rude. I turn away, only to stare at a clock. 5:00 PM. We should be getting back.

"Oh shoot! Wash up fast, Momo, we better go back to the Akatsuki's place." I dunk my head underneath the water, then frantically wipe myself with a towel. Momo works just as fast, but with less panic.

"You sure are eager to see Mr. Lovely, huh, Ino-chan?" I half-scowl, half-grin at her.

"We gotta get you to Konoha soon." Half an hour later, since Momo insisted on drying our hair and dirty clothes, we speed away on the boat. Two hours later, we hide the boat, grab Momo's bag, and run fast to the mountains. It's getting dark fast. Climbing to the top of a peak, I look around. Dammit, dammit, where is he? Momo climbs up beside me.

"Ino-chan, who're you look-"

"There!" I say. Hurtling away with Momo at my heels, we run for the person I'm looking for.

"Tobi! Tobi!" I yell. Tobi stops walking and turns to me.

"Ino-chan, where were you? I think Senpai's worried and-"

"Tobi, where's Zetsu?" I ask, panting. He looks at me, and then at Momo.

"Follow me, Ino-chan. Who are you?" Tobi looks at Momo.

"My friend," I say. "I need a favour from Zetsu." Momo waves cheekily at Tobi.

"Hey."

"Um, hi," says Tobi. Then he walks off and we follow him.

"Uh… how's everyone?" I ask. Just to break the awkward silence. Tobi looks over his shoulder at me.

"They're fine, but I think senpai's annoyed or mad."

"At me?" Before Tobi can answer, Momo nudges me.

"Hey Ino-chan, is this senpai Mr. Lovely?" I give her a pointed look. Tobi stops and turns around.

"Who's Mr. Lovely?"

"Nevermind," I say. Come on, Tobi, go faster! Walk! Haul your butt up!

A few minutes that seem to me like hours later, there's a large venus fly trap in view.

"Zetsu-san!" calls Tobi. He turns to look at us. Beside me, I can hear Momo shift to hide behind me. I don't blame her, Zetsu's kind of creepy.

"Zetsu, I need a favour. Can you transport my friend and I to Konoha?" I ask. Zetsu closes his eyes.

"Why?"

"She's a diclonius like me, and it would be better if she stayed with my family. Please?" Zetsu sighs.

"Well, Ino, you've managed to keep Tobi from annoying me for the past few weeks. I suppose I owe you one."

"Hey!" says Tobi. I turn to him and Zetsu.

"You guys, please don't tell anyone about this. I want to keep her safe," I say. Momo smiles at me.

"Aww, you're too nice, Ino-chan," she says. Zetsu turns away.

"Keep quiet for a few minutes. I need to focus my chakra for long distances." No one says anything. There's a strange feeling growing inside me. I think it's dread. I don't want to go back to Akatsuki, I wish I could be with Momo for a little while longer. Momo, she brings out the old Ino inside me. The Ino who was spunky, who spoke her mind, who didn't let people push her around. If Momo leaves, will that person inside me fade away too?

Zetsu turns around. "I'm ready." With an inward sigh, I walk with Momo over to Zetsu. He grabs our arms, and we disappear. Transporting with Zetsu feels just like body flickering. One moment you're in once place, the next you're zooming off to another. Finally, the sensation stops and we're in my old room.

It hasn't changed a bit. The walls are still light purple, my bed is made, my backpack is in the same corner, and purple beanbag chair is next to the reading lamp. Momo looks around.

"Nice room, Ino-chan," she says. Flopping down on the beanbag chair, she smiles up at me.

"Ooh this is comfy. Mind if I sit here?" she asks me. I give her a small smile.

"It's ok," I say. I whip a piece of paper off my neat stack and write a note to my parents.

_Dear Mom and Dad: _

_I'm glad to say that I'm alive and well. I hope that you are also alright. You may have heard that Akatsuki forced me to join them, but I'm still loyal to Konoha. _

_Please take in my friend, Yumi Miyonoko, or Momo. She's hard working, kind, and funny. Also, she's a fellow diclonius. I would really be grateful if you could treat her as you would me. Momo can work in the flower shop, and she has many other talents too. _

_Love, Ino_

I put my signature at the bottom of the letter so they would know it was me. Then, I turned to see Momo with a sad look on her face.

"You have to go now, don't you, Ino-chan?" I sighed.

"Yeah. It's been great knowing you, Momo-chan." I reach my arms out, and we hug. I feel tears welling up in my eyes, but I force them down because I know I will see Momo again.

"You're the best friend I've ever had," says Momo. I pat her on the back.

"You too, Momo. I'll see you again, right?" She pulls away and smiles at me.

"Of course!" Momo digs around in her bag and hands me a black roll.

"Keep the sleeping bag. Like a memento of our time together." I grin, and accept the sleeping bag. Then, I walk over to Zetsu and wave goodbye to Momo. She smiles and waves goodbye. In a flash, I'm back in the forest. The last few rays of sunlight flash through the trees, then disappear. I feel as though the euphoria of being with Momo, of having a real friend who was honest with me, who I could just be normal with, has vanished. I'm just another person working with Akatsuki. I sigh, Tobi's gone, and I'm alone with Zetsu. He lets go of my arm and gives me a funny look.

"Ino, what's like to have a friend?" He asks. Both halves of his face are speaking, so he must really be curious. I look up at the sky and think.

"Wonderful." I smile at Zetsu. He sighs, and looks at the ground.

"I don't know what that's like. I've never had a friend before."

"Oh," I say. "But that's ok. We're friends now, Zetsu. Tobi's your friend too. Even if he can be a _little bit_ too chirpy sometimes, he's a nice person."

"_Friendship's a complicated thing," _says the black half of his face.

"But it sounds nice," says the white half. Suddenly, Tobi walks out of a path in the trees. He waves at us.

"Hey Tobi," I say.

"Hey," Zetsu says. The way he says it shows me that he's not used to greeting people, or being so friendly. Even Tobi starts a bit. I take Tobi's hand, and Zetsu's hand, and walk down the path with them.

"So how's everyone else?" I ask. Tobi laughs.

"They're all fine," he says. "But I think senpai's kind of mad."

"Why? I'm alive. No one knows where Akatsuki is," I remark. As far as I'm concerned, he's got nothing to worry about. Ha, maybe he thought I got lured away by some other hot boy.

"Well, you disappeared yesterday and didn't come back till late," says Zetsu. I shrug.

"Yeah, well, sorry but I was kind of preoccupied by the guy the facility sent to get me back. I wonder what happened to him." Then I slap my forehead. "Oh yeah, I put him in that hole."

"Why didn't you come back yesterday?" Tobi asks.

"I didn't really plan on spending the night. It just happened," I say, "but I had somewhere to sleep, so you won't have to worry about catching hypothermia from me or something." Then we stop. We've reached the cliff where the door to Akatsuki's headquarters is. Somehow, I get a feeling of dread as I stand and look at that rock face. The last rays of sun have already faded, and I can only see by moonlight. A chilly wind blows snow all over us. I laugh and brush some chunks of ice that are lodged themselves in Zetsu's venus fly-trap. Then we enter the hall. I kick some snow off my shoes.

"We should have a floor mat over here. Hmm… what should it say?"

"Welcome to Home Sweet Home!" exclaims Tobi. I laugh, that's so ironic. I highly doubt anyone but Tobi thinks of this place as 'Home Sweet Home'. We walk down the many hallways together. Then, Tobi and Zetsu go off to their room, and I'm alone. What's this apprehension I'm feeling? Is it that gut feeling where you know something bad is going to happen? Or am I just nervous?

I'm nearing Deidara's room. My footsteps are slower and slower, but in the end I'm standing in front of the door. I stare at it for a moment, as it trying to see what's beyond it. Shoot, I should have listened to Tobi when he was talking about how 'senpai was pissed' and all that. Pressing my cold hand- huh, why's it cold- to the door know, I turn it and open the door.

At first I can't see anything. Everything's dark. Then, I see a shadowy figure below the window. It's in a crouching position, and it's looking at me.

"Deidara? Why's it so dark in here?" The figure shifts.

"Where were you?" Yeah, that's him alright. Did he think he could scare me or something?

"Out," I say curtly. "Is there a light in here? Where's the light switch?" He stands up. The moonlight shines from behind him, and I can't see his face, only a silhouette. A shiver runs up my spine. I can't help it, I'm a little bit scared. But not scared enough.

"Do you know what day it is, un?" I blink. What? Did I really hear that?

"No… what does that have to do with this?" There's no movement. Too bad I can't see his face.

"It's Christmas today."

"Sure… merry Christmas?" I say. Why's he bringing that up?

"Too bad you weren't here, un." Suddenly, I get mad. I miss Momo, and all those lonely feelings collide together with annoyance. What does he have to be mad about? Can't I have a life too? Momo will have a normal life, and I have to admit, I'm sort of jealous. The only thing that's keeping me from joining her and going my own way is the Akatsuki, if I can say that Konoha will take me back. And Deidara's part of Akatsuki, whether I like it or not. As I stand here and look at him, I grow more frustrated. It's growing harder and harder to contain, and I open my mouth.

"What are you so pissed about? I'm not some puppy on a leash. So I went off on my own for a while, are you going to shoot me for that?" C'mon, Ino, stop talking! But it's just spilling out of me. "I don't have to be locked up here 24/7, you know. And besides, why should you care about me?" Ok, that last part didn't come out as I wanted it to. My face flushes. I shouldn't have said those things. I look up, but there's nothing in front of me. Where did he go?

Suddenly, something grips my left shoulder. I stiffen, and look over that shoulder, only to see a hand with black polished fingernails. Deidara's voice whispers into my right ear.

"What makes you think I don't care about you, _Ino-chan_?" He says my name almost mockingly. I suddenly think of that reporters words: 'First, never approach a male panda during mating season.' Well, that could be true for male humans as well. Namely, the male human behind me. Why oh why didn't that reporter teach me how to defend myself from the rampaging panda?

So I do the first thing that comes into my head. I raise my foot, and slam it backwards into-

I'm not sure what happened. One moment Deidara was behind me, the next he's crouched over on the ground, moaning. The light's on, I think one of us smacked into it. Then I realize what I've done. Oh. My. God. I bend over and rub Deidara's back. There's not much you can say to a guy whose groin you've just kicked.

"Sorry, sorry, does it hurt?" I say something like that. I can hardly say 'Oh, I'm sorry for ramming you in the balls, Deidara. I was thinking of male rampaging pandas."

Deidara groans, then gets up and limps to the bathroom, still leaning over. I close the door behind him with my vectors. _Slam!_ Oops, too hard.

Oh god, I hope I haven't wrecked his groin or something. Will it affect his kids if he has them? Could I have shrunk or bruised his dick? My face burns bright red. I must look like a red light bulb. You know you've gone a bit too far when you start thinking about an S-class missing nin's reproductive system.

Well, there's not much I can do now. I roll out my sleeping bag. I have to wait for Deidara to come out in order to use the washroom, so might as well apologize while I'm at it.

Something rolls out of my sleeping bag with a thump. I don't remember putting anything in there. Picking it up and turning the thing over, I smile. It's the pair of skates Momo made for me. Hiding it under my pile of spare clothes, I sit on top of my sleeping bag and wait for Deidara to come out. A few minutes later, he does. I sit up and do my best to smile at him, which is hard because I also have a fierce urge to laugh.

"Uh, hi."

"Hi." I want to apologize, but now that he's actually _here_ I have a hard time forcing the words out. I look at the floor.

"So… it's getting colder, huh?" That was awfully lame. But it's better than trying to say sorry, stumbling over the words, and making a total fool of myself.

"Do you… do you want to come up here?" Starting, I instantly interpret the meaning of those words. I whip my head up and glare at him.

"What?! NO! No chance in hell!" I yell. He looks at me with a half-smirk, half-glare.

"What's wrong with you sleeping up here?"

"I could get raped, molested, killed, or physically harmed! Isn't that obvious?"

"You think I'm going to rape, molest, kill, or physically harm you, un?"

"YES. Possibly all four!" I can completely and totally see it now.

"Come on, Ino-chan, un. Besides, you owe me one for practically mutilating my-" I cover my ears. Somehow, I don't want Deidara to mention his… little senpai, as Tobi would call it.

"-And because you ditched me on Christmas." I sigh. What's his problem with Christmas anyway? But he might kill me if I don't do this. I'll just make sure to take a long, soapy, cleansing bath afterward to get rid of all the Deidara DNA.

"Fine, fine, fine. Give me a second." I walk into the washroom and shut the door with my vectors. I bet he's smirking triumphantly right now. Oh heavenly powers, strike me down with lightning right now!

But unfortunately, the heavenly powers aren't on my side. Even though I try to take as long as possible brushing my teeth, eventually I find myself standing in front of the sink with a wet toothbrush and a clean mouth. I sigh. Great. Sitting down on the bed, I scoot over to the corner closest to the wall and press myself against it. He lies down beside me and pulls the blanket over us. I think he's lying on his back. Unfortunately for me, I have a lot of questions. Also unfortunately for me, I'm not good at holding in questions. I sigh. Life sucks.

"You know, I've never had a good Christmas in my life, un. Back in Iwakagure, everyone thought I was a freak because of my mouths. Christmas was the worst, un; I couldn't get out of it and my parents wanted me to hang around the kids my own age. They always got into a ground and started whispering around me, un."

"Well, I'm glad to know more about your _fascinating_ life history," I say sarcastically. But I can't help it, I'm sympathetic for him. Damnit, Ino, stop feeling sorry for him! Stop stop stop!

"So you wanted this Christmas to be a bit better?" I look over my shoulder at him. He nods.

"Sorry for… you know. Running off." No response. I flip over and face him on my side.

"Hey Deidara, what was that for? You know, earlier." He sighs. Oh shoot, is this going to get me in trouble?

"I don't know, Ino-chan, un. Being with you is strange." I roll my eyes.

"Then why'd you get me up here?"

"No, not weird strange, un. Just unfamiliar strange. You bring out feelings inside me. I'm happier around you…" he closes his eyes," and you make me wish for things, like being able to use my other eye more." Aww, that's so sweet… wait, WHAT?

"What?" I ask. Here he was confessing his affection for me, and suddenly he's talking about his mechanical eye. Get your priorities straight!

"So I could look at you more." Now _that's_ more like it. "Ahh, Ino-chan, sometimes I wish you didn't hate Akatsuki so I could have a chance with you." He turns away from me, lying on his side. I stare at his back. No guy has ever said anything like that to me before. Sure, there were a few boys back in the ninja academy, but I never found them remotely interesting. Deidara, on the other hand… I don't know. But it's strangely nice to have him like me. So I move an inch closer to him. Then I hesitate. It's not right for me to even be friends with him. I said I was loyal to Konoha earlier, and I still am. But just this once, is it ok?

Shifting till I'm right next to him, I lay my head on his shoulder. When he turns to look at me, I close my eyes. There's no need for words.

_Chapter divider because the star key doesn't work_

Everything's dark. It's warm. Can't think. Too sleepy. So comfy. I don't move for a few minutes, and when I'm alert enough to think clearly, I open my eyes. And freeze. I can't see very well, but I can see enough to know what's going on. Oh. My. God. I could faint.

I'm snuggled in a tight embrace with Deidara. My head is buried in his chest and his arms are around me, his left around my waist and his right around my shoulders. I blush deep red. My left arm is wrapped around _his_ waist and my right is on his shoulder. I can feel my right hand practically caressing his neck. His head is buried in my hair, and his hair, which is a darker shade than mine, is mixing with my hair in a stream of colour. I don't like to swear or say curse words, but I think only one phrase can describe my state of mind right now: Holy Crap. Sorry, God.

I've never gotten so intimate with anyone. I should feel disgusted by the fact that I'm cuddling with an S-class nuke-nin, but… I've never felt so safe before than here in his arms. Deidara's different from all the other guys I've met, somehow.

"_If you and him get together, he might like you enough to want to help you escape, like wanting the best for you."_ Momo's words return to me. I sigh inwardly. Well, Momo was right. Seducing Deidara to try to help me escape _is_ a good idea. But I don't want to do that to him. And after he's just confessed too, that would be so mean and ironic. In a perfect world, I'd probably say I liked him too and we'd go off together la di da. But life's not like that. I don't have any other plans, though. Augh… everything's so complicated. What can I do? I don't know.

Deidara groans and pulls me closer. I blush harder, because he's just wearing a mesh shirt on top and I'm wearing my black t-shirt. Oops, I must have said 'I don't know' out loud.

So I'm going to have to play dirty and trick him. But that's not what I want to do. I sigh, and press my forehead to Deidara's collarbone. I'm sorry, Deidara.

* * *

(wipes brow) Whew, that was 31 pages long! But it was fun to write. I like Momo, she's my favourite and only OC. I hope you liked the DeiIno part, I'm a fan of that pairing.

If I were better at drawing, I would sketch that scene at the end with them sleeping together. Too bad for me, but if anyone wants to draw it, go ahead, but can I see it too? Thanks loads. Thanks for reading and please review!


	6. Trust

Disclaimer: I only own the plot and Momo from the previous chapter. The nickname _Mr. Lovely_ is actually not mine, one of my friends made it up. I bet after this fic is finished, or probably while this fic is in progress, someone will write another story with the same plotline, except some other kunoichi is the diclonius. Sorry people, but that's _plagiarism_. It's not allowed.

If you like action, violence, or gore, this chapter doesn't have any of that. Sorry, you'll have to wait till the next one. This chapter is more light-hearted and funny.

* * *

The sunlight tints the pine needles on a nearby tree a light green. I breathe in the cool forest air. It must be morning. Walking along the trees, the fallen branches crunch beneath my feet. Then the path splits to reveal a sparkling stream. Water rushes over the bank, scattering leaves and blossoms in its wake. Looking into the rush of water, I can't see the bottom of the stream. Kicking off my shoes, I dive in. But somehow, I turn at the last second and fall in backwards.

Water swirls around my back as I plunge toward the bottom. Turning my head upwards, I can see the sunlight streaking through the water. A sudden burst of freedom, of happiness streaks into my blood. Here, there are no worries, no memories to haunt my mind. I smile, and with a kick of my legs, soar through the water. It feels like I'm flying; schools of silvery minnows skim through my outstretched arms. The brown river bank flashes by, I'm swimming too fast to see clearly. Floating to a stop, I see a red crab peeking out at me behind a jagged rock. Laughing, I swim closer, and-

_Caw! Caw!_

I jolt awake. What the heck was that?

_Caw! Caw!_

I shove my face deeper into the blanket.

"Aww, kaa-san, five more minutes?" Someone pulls the blanket over my head. Thanks.

_Caw! Caw!_

"Nnnnnnngggggg…" I say. Something pulls me closer to whatever I'm lying against.

_Caw! Caw! SCREEEEECH! Caw!_

"That's it, it's gonna die, un," says a male voice. I hear shuffling, and one arm pulls away from me. Opening one eye blearily, I shut it again. It's bright outside, and that bird still screeches away. I rub my eyes. Then I freeze. Oh crap, what have I gotten myself into? I can hear Momo's voice right now.

_You finally jumped in the sack with Mr. Lovely? –whistle- Well that was uncalled for, Ino-chan. _

Thank GOD I haven't actually jumped in the sack with him. Just slept in the same bed. With him. Oh, great.

_Boom!_ I start slightly. Peeking over Deidara's shoulder, I see the smoking remains of a bird. The feathers are still floating to the floor. That's going a bit overboard, isn't it?

He pulls me back down to the mattress and wraps his arms around me. I glare at him.

"Hey, I'm not your teddy bear!" He doesn't reply. I thump his back, hard.

"Let go. I want to get up." No reply. I sigh, and jab him with my index finger repeatedly on the shoulder.

"Get off. Off off off off off off off!" With each 'off' he gets poked. Finally, Deidara groans and let's me out of the bed. I get up and walk to the washroom, then turn around and stick my tongue at him. He smirks back at me. I shut the door and go through my normal morning routine.

A few minutes later, I lean with my back against the wall, sitting on top of my sleeping bag. For a guy, he's taking _much_ longer in the washroom today.

"Sh-t!" I look over to the washroom.

"What's wrong?" He mutters something about an eyelash in his eye.

"Then wash it out, flush it out, or blink!" I lean back against the wall. Then, I hear a _pop!_ I jolt straight up.

"Oh my god, I didn't think you'd actually take your eye out. That's a bit melodramatic, isn't it?" Walking over to the washroom, I open the door.

"Don't you knock first, un?" I stick my head inside the fairly large room. Deidara is standing next to the sink, with the mechanical eye on the shelf and two grey-blue eyes looking at me, half-amused and half-exasperated. I grin sheepishly.

"Hehe… I thought it was your _other_ eye. Not the mechanical one. I always wondered what was going on under that metal thing. I thought you might have an empty hole or a dead eye rotting away in there." He glares at me. Surprisingly, I think he looks better with two eyes than one.

"Oh, you want me to go out?" I back out of the washroom. "Heh, sorry." I go back to my perch on my sleeping bag. _Sigh_. I still have to try to get him to help me escape. Why does everything have to be so complicated?

Later, we find Tobi throwing bread crumbs for the birds. Deidara promptly walks away, so I sit next to Tobi.

"Hey, Tobi."

"Hi Ino-chan!" he says ever chirpily.

"That's nice of you," I say, pointing to his bread crumbs. I don't mention that bread clogs up a bird's stomach and doesn't contain any nutrition for the bird. Tobi smiles at me. I don't actually see him do it, but when Tobi smiles, you sort of get these warm fuzzy vibes off him.

"I'll be right back, so wait here!" he says. Then he rushes off. Seems like everyone's ditching me today. But he comes back with a can of coke and a roll of something. Opening the can, Tobi takes a huge gulp, then unwraps the roll of whatever. He pops something white and round out of the can. Before I realize what it is, he puts it in his mouth.

"Crap, Tobi spit it out!" I yell. He looks at me.

"What?"

"Spit the freaking thing out!" Tobi looks at me quizzically, but then spits the Mentos out. I sigh in relief.

"Tobi, don't you know that if you drink coke and eat a Mentos, the Mentos reacts all weirdly with the coke and explodes?"

"Really?" I shake my head.

"See, I'll show you." I run to the kitchen, grab a 2 liter bottle of coke, warm it, and run back. Tobi is waiting for me eagerly.

"So what happens?" he asks.

"Ok, watch closely." I shake the bottle of coke roughly a few times, then pluck a Mentos from the roll. Unscrewing the cap, I drop the Mentos in the coke and place my vectors around Tobi and myself.

_Pow!_ With a giant explosion, coke splatters everywhere. Chunks of plastic smash into my vectors. The brown frothy liquid drips off the branches of the trees. The only place on the grass that isn't sticky with coke is the little circle that Tobi and I are sitting in. I turn to him.

"See?" _Snicker snicker. _

"What?" More snickers from Tobi. Then, he throws back his head and starts laughing. Come on, it wasn't _that _funny.

"Do it again, Ino-chan! Do it again! That was really cool!" I smile, it's kind of cute to see how the smallest things can make Tobi happy.

"Hmm… I wonder if Deidara knows how to do that? I would've thought he tried it on you already. Cause he likes explosions and all that." Tobi gives me a thumbs-up.

"I bet senpai's got that covered, he's the coolest!" Ha, wouldn't it be ironic if Deidara showed up right after Tobi sai-

"Hey. What were you saying about me, un?" Speak of the devil. But I turn and smile anyway.

"Tobi and I were just talking about your knowledge of explosions. So tell me, how do you get a Mentos to explode?" He doesn't say anything. I turn to Tobi.

"See? He doesn't know how after all!" Tobi sighs.

"Aww…" I look back at Deidara.

"Seriously? You don't know how to make a Mentos explode?" He starts to say something, but I cut him off. "Without eating it with those mouths?" No response. I exhale a long sigh.

"Ahh, senpai's got some brushing up to do. Wait here." I jump up and snatch another 2 liter bottle of coke from the fridge. This is a pretty cold bottle, so I shove it in a sink full of hot water to warm some of the coke. Then I run back to them.

"Can I have another Mentos?" I ask Tobi. He flips one at me, so I catch it. Holding the bottle of coke with my vectors, I frivolously shake it. While the stuff inside is still fizzing around, I unscrew the cap and drop the Mentos inside.

_Pow!_ As soon as the explosion is over, I look at Deidara. He looks shocked.

"That's your first time seeing a Mentos-coke explosion? Man, that's sad." Suddenly, we hear a yell from the direction of another spot on the mountain. Tobi jumps up.

"Oh no, I forgot to get some acid soap for Zetsu-san! It's his pollinating season! Bye senpai, bye Ino-chan!" Tobi waves and body flickers away. I turn to Deidara.

"What was that about?" He sighs.

"Hidan and his weird religion, un. He makes blood sacrifices to his god."

"He's pretty dedicated, huh?" I smile. A new thought strikes me, and I lean back on the grass.

"Hey, do you believe in God?"

"No."

"Atheist," I tease.

"Whatever, un. Do _you_ believe in God?"

"Yeah. That reminds me, how come everyone thinks God is a man? Do you think he could be a woman? Or half-half? Androgynous?"

"Why would God be a woman? God is a _he_, Ino-chan, un."

"When I was a kid, I thought God was a man but he had long hair as a sign of respect for women." Hidan stops yelling. Now we can hear Kakuzu shouting something at Hidan, and Hidan yells back. I crouch on the ground and place my arms around my knees.

"Hey, we never did finish talking about explosions. Ok, what do you put in a microwave that causes an explosion inside the microwave but doesn't actually blow it up?" No response again. I grin at him.

"Ever tried putting a knife or a metal spoon in there? I accidentally did, when I was five or so."

"Oh, un." I laugh.

"Man, you sure are out of it, huh? And here I thought you were a bomb terrorist or something!"

"Shut up. I'm still the best artist you've ever seen, un." I smirk to myself. He's got some ego. But I can deal with that. I smile sweetly at him.

"Aww, poor baby. Am I being too hard on you?" I purr. Reaching over to him, I tweak his ear. Deidara flushes slightly and looks at me.

"What was that for?"

"I thought I was being too tough on you!" Then I sit back down and look serious. "Hmm, artist-wise you're ok. But you're gonna have to have a few more tricks if you want to shape up your terrorist bomber rep."

"You're a bossy little girl, aren't you, un?" I fiddle with a strand of hair.

"Huh. But that's why you like me." He smiles at me. A pang of guilt surges through my heart. I like him, but as a friend. Or maybe there's more? No, there shouldn't be more. But then again, I don't like that I might have to break his heart to return to Konoha.

* * *

I think I put too many references to the fact that Ino's going to have to use Deidara, huh? (sigh). But I hope you DeiIno fans, me included, liked this chapter. Even if you aren't a DeiIno fan, I hope this chapter wasn't too bad anyway. I love that line by Ino, 'Aww, poor baby. Am I being too hard on you?' My favourite :)

Thanks for reading and please review! I promise the next chapter will be less boring and more dramatic.


	7. Hopeless

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, how about you?

Aww, darn writer's block was a real stymie for me in this chapter. Couldn't figure out how to begin it. But it's over now, so here's chapter 7 of Flying on a Red Cloud! Anyone else notice that the initials spell FOARC? It's almost as if someone was trying to write 'fork' but sneezed and forgot how to spell it. And I finally made a decent chapter divider! (jumps up and down) 3 cheers!

I decided to write this fic in a more adult/ teenage manner. No lemons planned yet -sorry if you were hoping for one- but the characters will act more their age and character, not as though there's some author chick writing their lines.

This chapter is kind of angsty, slightly perverted and involves liquor. No limes/ lemons though. Read at your own risk!

* * *

I soar through the air, alone. Propelling myself using chakra and my vectors over the water, I can't see anything else but my body and miles of empty blue sea. Deidara is behind me by about a mile or so, but neither of us cares that there is so much distance between us. Physically and relationship-wise. In fact, it's probably better that way. I sigh. The reflection of the blonde girl reflected in the water sighs too. Me and my selfish decisions. Yamanaka, you've really screwed this one up.

.Flying.On.A.Red.Cloud.

_Yes, this is my chapter divider. But it's better_

_than my other lame excuse for a divider._

Deidara told me he wanted to meet some allies in another country. He wanted me to meet them too, so I said "Sure, why not?" and he gave me one of those smiles that almost looks like he's smirking at me. I call it a Deidara smile, because it's sort of confident, egotistic, and nice at the same time. It's his trademark, besides that 'un' of his. So I just grabbed a few dollars just in case, told Tobi we were going out (not in the dating sense), and left on Deidara's giant clay bird. The morning started out fairly nice too.

There was that long commute over the ocean, and finally I caught sight of a town below. I thought it was the town Momo and I visited, so I leaned over the edge of the bird for a closer look. We were flying so low that people were looking up and pointing at us. It's crazy, but I guess I was sort of hoping to see a girl with dark pink hair wearing a black cap with a taller white-blonde fair girl walking down the street. Maybe it was just that I missed Momo. A hand grabbed the back of my shirt and pulled me back on the bird.

"Hey!"

"You could lose your balance and fall off, un. Unless you're suicidal? Now would be a good time to tell me, un." I rolled my eyes at him.

"Can't I do anything without you getting on my back about it?"

"Hmm…"

"Whatever, senpai." I looked back over the bird again and smiled. I only call him that when I'm feeling satirical.

"Hey senpai, do you ever feel like saying 'Haha, suckers!' when you pass a line of people walking really slowly and you're walking fast? I sometimes feel like yelling that whenever you fly over a town, 'cause we're going so fast and it seems like everyone's dragging their feet down there." I turned and grinned at him. Deidara bent over the bird.

"Suckers!" he yelled. Then he stretched his hands over the edge of the bird and the mouths blew raspberries at the town below. I saw a couple of mothers glaring at us; their children jumping up and down, yelling 'Suckers!'. I shook my head. We fly over the borders of the town and the trees brush the bottom of the bird. He flies a bit higher.

"You're a naughty, naughty boy," I said. He smirked at me, and I pretended to let my eyes trail down to his uh… legs.

"Or girl." Ha, I picked up a few things from Sai. Score one for me.

"Sh-t, Ino-chan. You're just as bad, un."

"Mmm… yeah, whatever."

"At least I don't tell dirty jokes about people's dicks, un!"

"Yeah, right."

"Keep your mouth shut or your punishment will be worse."

"Really? What punishme-" Deidara tackled me to the back of the bird and promptly began tickling my middle with one hand. He slid the other hand under my shirt and on top of my bare stomach, started nibbling and doing other horridly ticklish antics with that mouth on his hand. I started laughing and tried to shake him off, but he'd pinned me down with his weight.

"-laugh- Stop it -laugh- Dei -laugh- -dara!" He didn't stop, if anything, he tickled me worse. Those fingers running up and scratching my stomach were pure torture. I threw back my head, laughing and yelling at the same time. Finally, after a few long minutes that seemed like hours, Deidara stopped his tickle-torture on my stomach and pinned my arms down instead. I lay under him breathing raggedly, trying to regain my composure. He wasn't so passive, I caught his eyes trailing from my face down to my neck and lower, looking at, well, what men normally look at on a girl. Add the fact that my front was heaving up and down with every breath- well, he couldn't really _not_ look.

"You're just as so-called perverted." I glared at Deidara, who smirked back at me.

"So I guess we're even now, hmm?" I shake my head.

"Nuh-uh, no way." Then I pushed off my back with my vectors and flipped forward so that I was pinning him on his back instead. Smirking mischievously, I thought about a few ways to get my revenge.

"Why didn't you do that earlier, hmm?" Deidara grinned at me. "Aww, don't tell me you actually _liked _it when I was on top of you." I glared at him again.

"No freaking chance. Prepare yourself for _serious torture_, senpai." Stretching out a few of vectors in their smoky-white state, I smirked. Double the hands, double the tickling. Muahahaha. All four vectors lunge for his stomach and I wiggle my vector fingers right where it tickles the most. Deidara starts laughing as hard as I did, and tries to fling me off him with his legs. He struggles pretty wildly, so I sat on his legs in a no-way-are-you-shaking-me-off posture.

"Aww, don't struggle. _Or your punishment will be worse_," I said mockingly. In a last-ditch attempt, he slapped his palm on my neck. The teeth there began gnawing and licking. I recoiled and tried to wrench his arm off, but he took advantage of that and sat up. I was still sitting on his legs, so I tried to get away as far as possible without enabling him to move.

"Get it off!" I yelled. Instead, he grabbed my shoulder with his other hand. I couldn't move away any more. Reaching out another vector, I managed to pry him off. I placed my hand on my neck and felt that sore spot, there were bite marks and it felt kind of raw. Shoot, did he just give me a _hickey?_

"There's a bite mark, damn it! You're not getting away for that one, senpai."

"You brought it on yourself, un. Admit it, Ino-chan." I was SO going to get him back for that. Except the only problem was that I didn't exactly have a pair of mouths on _my_ hands to get that said revenge with. Life's a real pain sometimes.

"Hmm… too bad you don't have these, un." Deidara pointed to his hand mouths, which grin at me. I narrowed my eyes at them. They stuck out their tongues. "So you can't take revenge, hmm? You're going to have to do it the way everyone else does." I stuck out my tongue.

"No way. No fooling around in mid-air." I glared at him, then turned around and rubbed the hickey furiously. Muttering a few choice words under my breath, I managed to smooth out the marks, but it was still sort of red. I turned around and gave Deidara a death glare, but he just smirked at me.

"We're landing, un." I ignored him. Scratch that, no fooling around _period_. I felt a bit sorry for the clay bird, it had to listen to several lewd comments and two tickle torture assaults on its back. Poor thing.

"So who are these people anyway?"

"Subordinates, allies of Akatsuki, un." I imagined a group of wild pyromaniacs and rogue shinobi running around with bloody katanas, swearing profusely. No, doesn't sound like my type.

"You're already thinking about what they'll be like, aren't you, un?"

"Hn."

"Don't be so judgmental, un."

"I'm not judging them, Senpai-no-baka. Just trying to picture them using what you said."

"Dammit, Ino-chan, why do you call me senpai?"

"That's true, you're not that much stronger than me. If it weren't for that bomb, I'd have cut your head off by now."

"Yeah, but you _do_ have that bomb right now. So technically, I deserve your respect, un, unless you want to make yourself a piece of my art." Art my foot. But still, I don't want to die yet. Got to get back to Konoha.

"Respect? For what?" I asked. He started to retort, but then bit it back.

"See?" I said. Deidara punched me on the arm - ow that kind of hurt - and jumped off the bird. I followed, and we walked deeper and deeper into the trees. I was thinking that maybe these people he was so eager for me to meet could possibly be hillbillies or hippies, living high up in the trees to 'become one with nature' or whatever hillbillies and hippies do (I have nothing against hillbillies nor hippies. I actually like hippies because they're all for saving the environment and stuff. But let's just get on with the story.)

"Deidara-kun!" squeals a female voice. I was going to ask him who it was, but I was spared having to ask because a strawberry-blonde girl threw her arms around Deidara, who was right in front of me, so I got a pretty good look at her. She was a bit shorter than me, I saw, because she was a few inches short of Deidara's shoulders and I was up to his collarbone. The girl also had long, thick eyelashes, amethyst-coloured eyes and a mouth that could easily be imagined pouting. Pretty, but in a daddy's girl way. She'd closed her large eyes when she hugged him, but now she opened them and stared at me. It was a sort of shocked and partly disappointed look. I smiled sheepishly at her.

"Um, hi," I said.

"Oh, you brought someone this time?" a deep voice boomed. Deidara looked over his shoulder at me.

"Ino-chan, stop hiding behind me, un." I raised an eyebrow.

"Hiding? Maybe you're just blocking me." I sidestepped him and looked at the three people, who well, were looking at me pretty curiously too. There was a tall, chubby guy with stubble on his round face and squinty dark eyes. A grubby red sweatshirt covered his arms and a pair of cargo pants sagged on his legs. He reminded me of Chouji, in a more rough way. The type of guy who you'd imagine sitting in a squashy armchair with a can of beer watching tv. I looked at his potbelly. Twins, definitely.

"I'm not pregnant, girl, so quit thinking that," he said in an overly loud voice. "But then again, most people think of me in a meaner way, so I'll go easy on you. What's your name?" He burped. "Sorry."

"Eww, Boo, that's disgusting!" said the girl.

"So you can read minds, um… Boo?" I asked. He grinned and patted his stomach.

"Yeah. They call me Boo 'cause I'm chubby like Winnie the Pooh, but Pooh's a girly name so I went with Boo." I smiled. I wasn't a great fan of Winnie the Pooh either.

"Who's she, your girlfriend?" a short dark-haired teenage boy with a friendly, open face smiled. He was wearing a blue polo t-shirt, despite the fact that it was winter. "I'm Hyung, by the way. I'm Cantonese."

"That's cool. I can't speak canto, but I know a few Cantonese songs." When I said that, a black-haired boy with heterochromatic green and brown eyes gives me a quick glance. He's taller than me by a couple of inches, wearing a black sweatshirt and jeans. With dark hair falling into his eyes, his stare is intense and almost probing.

"This is Yune over here," Hyung slings an arm around the strange boy's shoulders. Yune (that's pronounced Yuun, like the month of June. Some people might think it's pronounced Yu-neh or Yu-nay but it's actually just Yune. Rhymes with moon.) gives me another quick, dark glance. He doesn't smile.

"Ino," I say. Hyung smiles again and then looks at Deidara.

"So is she your girlfriend, or what?" he asked.

"No." I'm a bit surprised. And a bit disappointed. Wait- what, disappointed? Where did that come from?

"She's my lover, un." I poked him side, right where it hurts. He winced and raised an eyebrow at me.

"What was that for?"

"Go spin your fantasies elsewhere," I said. But I couldn't stop myself from smiling slightly. Deidara noticed that and smirked at me.

"Hi, I'm Tasa," said the girl. I looked over at her, noticed she'd let go of Deidara. A little jolt of satisfaction runs through my spine.

"Nice, like the princess from _Love Undercover 2._" I thought about mentioning that the main character Kuen pushed Tasah, the princess who was flirting with Kuen's boyfriend, down a flight of stairs, practically breaking her leg or something, I can't remember, but I decide not to do it. Besides, Kuen got her boyfriend back from Tasah, and Deidara doesn't seem to be interested in Tasa - hence the lover/ girlfriend comment - so I'm not worried. Muahaha. Ok, that was a weird evil laugh.

Tasa gave me a smile that I think was _supposed_ to be a smile but ended up looking a bit snarly. I only saw this snarl/smile for a second, because Hyung grabbed Deidara and I by our arms and pulled us away, talking about going back to his house. Boo, Tasa, and Yune followed us, Boo teasing Tasa about flirting with another girl's boyfriend, and Yune just following, eyes distant. He looks like he's in another world. Once when I was thinking about a book I'd read that Konan had lent me, Tobi teased me about my spacing out. Yune looks the same way that Tobi described me as: eyes glazed, physically there but not really there.

Hyung drew my attention back to reality. "Here we are! You've been here before, right Deidara-san?"

"Yeah. It still looks the same, un." The house has two stories, with a black shingled roof and blue walls. There's a small porch leading to the front door. We walked up the stairs, Boo still blathering, Tasa gazing at Deidara longingly, Yune looking distant. Hyung let go of us and opened the door.

"Please wipe your feet on the mat," Hyung said with all the cheer of a housewife. I scraped away the dirt on my shoes and follow Deidara into the hall. Behind me, I could hear Tasa saying "Quit being so rude, Boo! Deidara's here." I gave him a sidelong grin. He just looked exasperated, and promptly turned left into the living room. Pulling me down next to him, he leaned against me like I was a pillow. I tried to shuffle away, but there wasn't any room on the couch so I just dealt with it. His head was on my shoulder, his hair is almost as well kept as mine. I fingered a few strands of it, Deidara smiled faintly.

"Girl's had a thing for me ever since I met her, un."

"Is that why you pulled me along? As an anti-flirt-with-Deidara charm or something?"

"Exactly."

"Oh yippee, I'm glad I'm so useful," I said sarcastically. He laughed. Boo came in and sank into a squashy armchair, grinning at us.

"Hey, no hooking up on the sofa, we watch tv there," he said arrogantly. I smirked at Deidara.

"Here that? Come on, senpai, get off." He doesn't move, so I get off the sofa and sit on a stool instead. Deidara glared at me and started to say something, but Tasa sat beside him instead so he bit it back. I smiled at her. Hyung exited the room, saying something about bringing back drinks.

"So how's your art going, Deidara-kun?" Tasa asked. Boo scoffed.

"Art is for girls. Making things pretty and sparkly. Not my type." Deidara glared at Boo, who downed a can of coke that used to sit on the table next to him. Tasa pouted at Boo.

"But making things pretty is nice! They're all beautiful afterward, right Deidara-kun?" Tasa said.

"There's a difference between pretty and beautiful," someone beside me. I turned to see Yune perched on a stool next to me.

"Hey," I said. He didn't smile but looked at me again in that intense way.

"Are you artistic, yourself?" he asked. I thought about that for a second.

"I know ikebana. Used to work in my family's flower shop before… well, I used to, that's all," I said.

"Do you consider music a form of art?" Yune asked.

"Do you play anything?" I asked. Not fair that he should ask all the questions. Yune stood up, not really looking at me. I hoped I hadn't offended him.

"Follow me," he said. It wasn't an order, it was a request. He began walking away, and I didn't really want to stay and listen to Tasa flirt and Boo make obnoxious comments, so I got up and went after him. I thought I saw Deidara's eyes follow me for a second, but then he started talking to Tasa and Boo so I just left. Yune walked into a kitchen, where Hyung was pouring sprite in plastic cups, and through another hallway where I caught a glimpse of a room with a fuchsia bedspread that was covered in shirts and skirts. Tasa's room, I think. Then he took me over to a door, which he opened. It led downstairs into some sort of basement. I hesitated at first, but then I realized if Yune tried to do anything, I could easily overwhelm him with my vectors. So I walked down with him.

We went through a passageway that was very, very long. It easily led away from the house, probably deep under the forest behind the house. The floor panels creaked slightly under our feet, and glass lamps lined the walls every few meters. Finally, there was a wooden door. Yune opened it, and I didn't move for a few moments.

There were a lot of instruments in that room. A guitar, a keyboard, a piano, a synchronizer, a violin, and a whole bunch of other instruments. I saw a shelf covered in cd's leaning against a wall padded with some cloth material. Yune had a music paradise down here. I turned to him, and he smiled at my shocked expression. It was his first real smile, one that brightened his heterochromatic eyes and didn't make him look so emo.

"You like it? The others never come down here. Boo says music drowns out his tv shows, Tasa's not interested, and Hyung would wreck all the instruments. I have it all to myself. You're the first person I've ever showed this place to, besides them."

"How did you get all this?" I asked. Yune sits on a teal bean bag chair. I perch myself on a black one near him.

"Paid for them with the money I got from missions. I'm a genjutsu user with sound. "

"Really," I said. He gave me a sharp-cornered grin.

"What, did you think I hit them over the head with a guitar or something?" I laughed.

"Nah, I think you have more respect for instruments." He leans forward and looks at me.

"You never answered my question. Do you play anything?" he asked.

"Violin. I would sometimes get bored alone in the flower shop, manning the cashier. So I hid a violin under the counter and practiced whenever I got bored."

"Are you good?"

"If I practiced more, I'd be better." Yune reached out and took my hand. He trailed his own fingers over mine. They were sort of rough but gentle, just like Deidara's hands.

"That's what I thought you played. You have a violinist's fingers," he said. "Long and slender."

"Thanks," I said. "Eh Yune, what do you play?"

"Everything you see here I've tried out," he said, gesturing around the room. "But I like the piano most." Yune stood up and walked over to the piano. Sitting down on the stool, he played the first notes of one of my favourites. It's also the ending theme to a movie I haven't watched yet.

"Recognize that?" he asked. I smiled.

"Kitto Eien Ni. Crystal Kay. I know how to sing that one." He raised his eyebrows, then walked over to the cd shelf and plucked one out. Going over to the cd player, he inserted the disc in. Before turning it on, he looked at me.

"This song's only instrumental," he said. It took me a moment to grasp the meaning behind his words.

"You want me to sing it?" I asked. Yune nodded.

"You said you know how. Prove it. And I want to see how you sing." I looked skeptically at the cd player, then at the floor. But there wasn't any harm in it. And I wasn't that bad of a singer. Yune had been nice enough to show me his secret music room, so I guess I owed him one. Maybe that's why I opened my mouth and sang along to the cd track.

"_My love todokanai mama  
Hitori dakishimete nemuru no…_" The rest of the song went by just as smoothly. I remember Yune tapped his foot along to the beat, and I smiled at him when there was a pause in the music. For a while, that euphoric few minutes, I didn't feel any worries, any heavy thoughts. It was just a world with me, Yune, and the music. I wasn't thinking about how to make sure I wasn't killed by that bomb or thinking about escape. When it was over, I plopped down on the bean bag chair. Yune gave me a hug, which I returned at first but then pulled away.

"Sorry, I'm with Deidara," I said. He looked at me, dark and intense.

"But you don't like him that way, don't you? You're only starting to have feelings."

"What makes you think that way?" Yune's stare is knowing and heavy.

"You're that diclonius girl who got exiled from Konoha. I heard on a mission, escorting civilians from Konoha to Kusa. They were talking about how some Yamanaka Ino girl apparently got forced to work for Akatsuki or something." He folded his hands and looked again at me. "That's you, isn't it?"

I sighed. "Yeah. I'm not that popular in Konoha."

"So now you want to go back, don't you? Then why do you act as if you have a relationship with Dei-" He stops. A few moments later, he gives me another intense gaze. "You're planning to use him to help you escape and return to Konoha, aren't you?" I look at the ground, not wanting to look at his heavy gaze. Guilt, hot and heavy, floods onto my.

"Yeah." My voice is quiet. But then I hear him laugh softly.

"I never thought you two were ripping each other's clothes off." I look up. He's smiling, and I can't help but laugh too.

"I feel so guilty, but I-" I stop. There were footsteps and chatter coming up the corridor. I looked at Yune, who shrugged, in an I-don't-know gesture. The talk grew louder, then Tasa and Deidara entered the room. Tasa smiled at us.

"Hey, Yune, Ino. You've been busy? Dinner's ready," she said.

"Oh, ok," I said. Yune glanced at me, and with that look I knew he wouldn't tell anything about me and my plans for returning to Konoha. But his gaze held something else, too. I think he was warning me about the consequences of using someone, particularly a dangerous guy who was a member of Akatsuki. But when I was around Deidara, I didn't feel threatened or anything. Like Yune said, I think I _was_ beginning to have something, just a bit of something, for Deidara. I didn't take Yune's warning that seriously. Maybe that was my mistake.

Hyung just cooked this tomato soup with garlic bread for dinner. It was pretty good except for the fact that there were _anchovies_ floating in it. Seriously, anchovies and tomato soup don't mix. Hyung told me those fish were his favourite, but that didn't really stop me from sneaking my helping under the table to Deidara, who blew them up at the base of the table every time Boo burped, which was often. The fish conspiracy. Poor anchovies.

Tasa stood up after she finished wiping her mouth. "Deidara-kun, can I talk to you for a second?" she asked sweetly. He kicked my foot under the table- I poked him in the side with my vector –and then got up and followed Tasa.

"Hey Tasa, get me some vodka, will ya?" yelled Boo. She tossed her hair over her shoulder.

"Get it yourself," she said. Boo looked pointedly at Hyung.

"You. Go." Hyung shook his head. Boo turned kind of red. I thought he was about to have a fit, so I quickly stood up. "Sure, I'll get it," I said. Hurrying into the kitchen, I was just in time to hear Tasa start talking.

"Deidara-kun, why do you like that girl?"

"It's none of your business, un."

"But she's a slut!"

"Shut the f---" - I winced – "up! You don't know her, so stop b----ing, un." Again with the wincing.

"What do you think she was doing down there with Yune?" My dislike of Tasa went up a few notches. Sure, I used to dress pretty revealingly, but I didn't like it that much either. And I didn't flirt with people - everyone was usually away on missions. Sometimes I would get a few hungry stares, but that was it. The way I dressed was actually an asset, I was given a lot of special high-paying missions, usually to get information out of some lewd powerful shinobi.

"You're talking sh-t, you whore, un. And I trust her." At those last three words, I feel a surge of guilt. He was defending me, and I was going to use him like a puppet and then probably ditch him. Almost like eating hot gourmet food right in front of a scrawny starving animal. And savoring that food with chewing noises too.

"She's got you wrapped around her finger, doesn't she?" Tasa's voice sounds hurt and quiet. I don't hear what they say next, because Hyung calls "Hey Ino, where're Tasa and Deidara-san?" I grabbed the bottle of vodka, tossed it to Boo, and then walked off in search of the two said people. I finally found them in Tasa's room. They were arguing heavily in there, and Tasa looked like she was about to cry. I went right in there and stood there for a few moments.

"Hey." They both turned around. "Slut here. Hyung's looking for you two," I said. I couldn't help but mention that slut comment. Being called a slut wasn't something I like to be called. Then I exited the room, only to find Boo all red-faced with three empty bottles of hard liquor beside him. Hyung was politely sipping a glass of red wine. I smiled awkwardly.

"Heyyyyy Ino, you want some?" Boo held the bottle of vodka out to me. I shook my head.

"No thanks, I don't drink." Call it influence from Mom, and also because I'd hauled my dad, Chouji's dad, and Shikamaru's dad, all drunk, into the washroom and to their houses quite a few times, enough to know that drinking gets you in a bad state.

"I'll bet," Tasa whispered under her breath. I whirled around in time to see Deidara raise his palm and swing towards Tasa. Stretching out my vector, I caught his arm just in time. He looked at me. It was an angry look, but when he saw me he kind of relaxed a bit.

"It's not worth it," I said softly. Then I let go of his arm and walked back to my seat. There was a long awkward silence. Boo broke it by staring at me and saying "Hey, Ino. Glad you're back."

"Thanks, Boo," I said. I noticed three more empty bottles in front of him, bringing that total to six, not including the one he was swigging.

Boo burped. "Glad you remembered my name." Deidara coughed, it sounded like 'Fat'. Boo glared at him.

"Oh yeah?" he slammed the bottle on the table. Vodka spilled over onto the table cloth. "Girly man."

Tasa made a noise like she was about to say something. Boo turned to her. "Whore. Always throwing yourself at Deidara every time he's here."

"Don't _hic_ call Tasa-chan _hic_ that!" cried Hyung. Boo turned on him next.

"You're hot for Tasa, aren't you?" He burped. "You never call her Tasa-chan. You're drunk, moron." I thought that was a bit harsh. Hyung was a bit corny, but he was nice.

Hyung burst into tears. "You're always so mean to me! And I'm so nice to you!" he ran out of the room. I spotted Yune in the corner. He gave me another dark intense look.

"Whore?" Tasa cried. "You want a real whore, Deidara-kun? Ino's a whore! She's that diclonius freak from Konoha!"

"I haven't really heard that thrown at me before," I said, "How'd you know?"

"You blocked Deidara-kun's arm. Unless you can control air, which you're too weak to do, then you're her! You're a mutated freak who can kill us all whenever you feel like it!" Deidara really did slap her. Tasa fell to the floor, holding her cheek but keeping her gaze full of hatred steady on me. Yune gave me a sharp glance.

But then Tasa lowered her stare. I could see tears sliding out from under her thick eyelashes.

"Dammit. D-Dammit all. Can't you see she's just u-using you, Deidara-kun?" she sniffled. I felt a drop of pity mixed with my dislike. She shouldn't ruin herself just because she liked someone.

"I-I bet she wants to g-go back to Konoha." Then her sniffling stopped entirely. Tasa raised her head, eyes full of hatred and sorrow at once.

"SHE'S GOING TO USE YOU LIKE YOU'RE JUST A TOOL AND THEN DUMP YOU! YOU HEAR ME???? SHE'LL DROP YOU ON YOUR F-CKING A--!" Tasa raced out of the room, rubbing her eyes. There was another long silence in that room. I didn't know what to say. Now he knew what I was planning, what would he do?

"Is… is it true?" he said quietly. I couldn't respond. I wouldn't have known what to say. "Tell me." I didn't say anything. I didn't even look at him. My heart seemed to sink down into my stomach like a stone. I felt like I had a heavy weight in my body.

"Answer me!" Deidara appeared right next to me and grabbed my arm. It hurt. I bit my lip, trying to stop tears from springing to my eyes. The pain wasn't just in my arm.

"Ino-chan, look at me, un." He gripped my chin, tilting it so I had to look straight into his blue-grey eye. There were so many emotions in that eye, anger, sadness, everything and anything that could possibly be felt were in his face.

"Let her go." Deidara turned, pulling me with him. We saw Yune standing up, speaking quietly but with a dark profoundness in his mismatched eyes. Deidara let go of my face, and I looked away.

"What you said about being guilty, down in the music room," he said, "you were talking about me, weren't you, un?" I couldn't look at him, so I just nodded. His gaze felt like a searing ray of sunlight on me. I felt hot all over.

"And Yune knows." I nodded again. His grip tightened on my arm. He was going to burst a blood vessel in my arm soon.

"You told him but you didn't tell me." It wasn't a question, just a statement. A statement of the cruel truth.

I don't know how long I was in that room with them, but it seemed like an eternity, a horrible infinite hell. But Deidara threw me aside and ran out of the room. I would have dropped to the ground, I was so caught up in my whirlwind of emotion, had Yune not caught me and set me in a chair. Deidara knew my true motive in befriending him. He knew I was going to use him and really throw him aside once I was done with him. He knew I hadn't really felt anything for him, until just recently. Maybe the fact that I did sort of like him was why it hurt so much.

I don't really remember what happened after that. Yune and I cleaned up Boo, who'd fallen unconscious, dead drunk, after Hyung left. That's what we assumed or else he would have said something while Tasa was yelling and Deidara and I had our little… discussion. Hyung came in, asking what all the noise was about, but he keeled over right when we were thinking of a good excuse.

I left the house. Yune saw me off, but before I left he pressed something in my hand, patted my shoulder, and went back inside. I looked at the object. It was a little pendant with a silver chain. There was a paper in my hand too. It read _"To open, turn bottom of pendant three times clockwise so that the sapphire rotates three times." _I saw there was a small sapphire embedded in the front of the pendant, and that it was on the bottom half of the swiveling bottom. _"Then turn bottom counter clockwise twice so that the sapphire rotates twice."_ I turned the bottom three times clockwise and twice counter clockwise. The bottom came off in my hands, and there was a tiny knife protruding from the top which had previously been hidden. In handwriting, Yune had hastily scrawled _'If your vectors aren't long enough, use that as a projectile.'_ I smiled and fastened the chain around my neck.

.Flying.On.A.Red.Cloud.

So now I run across the ocean, alone. My plans to go back to Konoha have totally failed, so I'm going to have to find another way. But I don't think it'll be easier this time.

As for Deidara, I'm probably lucky to even be alive right now. The only thing that most likely kept be from being killed was that he likes me, or _liked_ me. I've twisted my life into a knot of confusion. A really, really big knot.

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I have a thing with long chapters, don't I? I'm sorry again for not updating sooner. If anyone is reading Change is Good or is it? and waiting for updates, I promise that you won't wait forever, by the end of the month it will be updated. No one's voting either, so… (sigh) oh well.

Thanks for reading, reviewers get one of those sapphire necklace things Ino got!


	8. Falling

Disclaimer: I'm happy to say that I own the plot, Yune, Tasa, Boo, and Hyung. I'm sad to say I don't own Naruto or its characters (sigh). Oh well, life goes on.

And now for your fanfic. Ha, I'm not quite as wordy in my author notes in this chapter.

* * *

Life with Akatsuki is now, well, nothing. I don't mean that it's boring, just nothing. Deidara and I have no contact. When we have to sleep in the same room, even if I'm awake, I wait until he wakes up and is finished using the washroom before I even get up. In the hallways, we look at the floor when we pass each other. On our missions, we don't talk and sleep at least ten meters away from each other. Far enough for personal space, close enough to keep an eye on each other. Not that we even look at each other. 

It's been about two weeks since meeting his friends. Sometimes, I find myself fiddling with the necklace Yune gave me. I wonder if I'll ever have to use it. Since I know I can't tell Tobi anything, I've avoided him too. It hasn't been hard. He's always with Deidara, wherever they are. I find myself usually with Konan instead. Three weeks before, I was looking for something to read. You can only watch someone sculpt over and over so many times, so I got bored and wandered off. That was how I met Konan. She was reading by a tree with a stack of books beside her, so I asked if she could lend me a book. She did, and we sat together for a while, just reading our separate books. That was how our friendship started. She's a quiet person, pretty nice and keeps to herself.

I take my book, Succubus Blues, and walk outside. Hearing footsteps, I look up ahead of me and then quickly look back down. Deidara. For that one, fleeting instant where we pass each other, I think about talking to him. I wouldn't have anything to say, but I just want to hear his voice. It's strange, but I actually miss his company. Then a thought strikes me, and I turn around. Going back to the room, I reach under my spare clothes and pull out my pair of skates. Then I walk down the hall, out, and into the forest.

What am I looking for? I'm not quite sure. A frozen body of water, anything to skate on. Somehow, I'm struck by the sudden urge to do something, anything. Maybe it'll enlighten me a bit.

Weaving through the trees, I finally find a pond. But it only has a thin layer of ice on the surface. Disappointed, I sit on the bank and pluck a chip of ice off the sheet. It melts in the palm of my hand. I look at the tiny puddle, think about the mouths on Deidara's hands. Then my thoughts stray to him. It's not like I _want_ them to, they just do. Well, it doesn't matter what I do. I can't take back anything that happened, can't go back in time and strangle Tasa before she gave me away, or knock Deidara unconscious so he wouldn't hear anything she said. But life goes on.

I stare at the little puddle in my hand. Suddenly, to me it seems so miraculous that it's there. Just there. No matter how much power a shinobi has, no matter how much influence they have over others, they can't control everything in their lives. Some unknown power creates ice, makes it melt. No matter what we do, the water freezes into ice, melts when it's warmer, and spirals on and on in time. And somehow, I have to trust in this unknown power, may it be fate or just the way of the world. I lied to someone close to me, all because I was selfish. But like I said earlier, life _does_ go on. If he forgives me, great. If he can't, oh well. Boo-freaking-hoo. Ok, that was kind of strange. Whatever.

Flipping through the final pages of my book, I finish it and lie back onto a broad oak tree. Chilly wind rustles through the branches as I gaze at the grayish sky. Succubus Blues, the book Konan lent me, is about a demon underworld girl who has the appearance of an inhumanly beautiful woman, the type that men would kill to have. Hmm… never mind kill. They probably pull a holocaust or something. Anyway, she also happens to be a succubus, a shape-shifting creature who feeds off men's pleasure. In a way, diclonius and succubus are a lot alike. We're both deadly to humans, and also in my case and in the succubus' case, dangerous for men to be around. Yeah. Ino Yamanaka, summed up in a nutshell.

Footsteps approach. I stop staring at the sky and look over in the direction of the sound. It's Konan. I smile.

"Hey, Konan-san." Her being the leader's wife and partner, I have to speak respectfully to her. Why does she look so sad?

"Pein wants to see you, Ino-chan," she says gravely. I sit up.

"Who?"

"Pein. Leader-sama. Whatever you call him."

"_Pein._ How'd he get a name like that? Poor guy, I bet he was teased by his classmates when he was a kid." I change my voice to one of a bratty child's. "_Oh hey, it's Pein. Look guys! Pein's a real 'pain'_ _in the butt! Hahahaha!"_ A slight smile flits across her face. She's very composed, to say the least. Most people would give me a what-the-hell look. But I have to admit, it was pretty corny.

"I'm sorry," she says softly, so quietly I can barely hear her. Something stabs the back of my neck. I turn, in time to see an empty syringe fly away, suspended by a paper butterfly. Everything's going black…

Flying.On.A.Red.Cloud.

(yay chapter divider! Ha ha)

There's a blur in front of me. I blink a couple of times, sluggishly. Then everything slides into focus. Am I floating? I try to touch the ground, but something is restraining my foot. Looking down, I see I'm being suspended in the air. Someone's put me in a straitjacket, except my arms are tucked around my waist instead of around my neck and behind my head. I'll get myself out of this in a second.

"Don't think of using your vectors." I look up. There's the shadowy figure of the leader. And beside him, not looking at me, is Deidara. I open my mouth, only to find a gag.

"Mmm!" Somehow, my vectors aren't coming out. I try again.

"Mmm mff-mff mmm?" What's going on? Leader, or shall I say, Pein, turns to Deidara. This can't be good, me imprisoned in a straitjacket and gagged, and him up for interrogation.

"I heard from a confident that you apparently were going to use Deidara to assist you in your escape to Konoha," Leader says coldly.

"Hmm-mmm?" Which one?

"Tasa."

"Hn." I want to strangle her. Oh yeah, slide my vectors around her throat and snap it like a twig. Leader takes something out of his cloak. He hands it to Deidara. I can't see what it is. A gun? A kunai for slitting my throat? Poison? Dammit!

Leader nods. "You know what to do." Crap, crap, crap!

Deidara walks over to me and yanks down my gag. I try to say something, but he covers my mouth. Eww gross- the mouth on his hand is trying to force open mine. I clamp my own shut.

"Open your mouth, un."

"Mmm-mmm." Nuh uh, no way. He glares at me. Then I feel teeth gnawing on my lip. I try to bite him back, but then something slimy slides into my mouth. Sh--, his tongue! It's carrying something. Then, with a curling motion that nearly forces me to vomit, something lands on my tongue. A pill? It's chalky and bitter.

The tongue shoves the pill further down my throat. I make an odd gagging noise. Deidara grimaces, and with one final push, I'm forced to swallow the pill. _Gulp_. He removes his hand –thank god- but pulls the gag back up.

"Bleh. Argh. Fuhh."

"Shut up." Leader turns to me again. With as much dignity as I can possibly screw up from the depths of my powerless self, I narrow my eyes at him.

"Still insolent. Hmm."

"Mmm." Then, as far as I can see, he makes hand signs very rapidly. The room is silent except for the slight swish of air as he finishes the signs. I don't feel any different.

"Mmff-mmff-urrrmfff-mmm-mn-gnnn-mm?" Are you sure you did that right? Leader gives me an intense look. I shiver slightly. Creepy creepy creepy.

"Two."

"Hm-" I'm interrupted by a sudden pang in my legs. It feels like I pulled all the muscles in my legs. I try to stop them from shaking, but it feels like my legs are being stretched tightly. My muscles are screaming at me, but I can't do anything about it. I concentrate chakra to my legs- but nothing happens. Shit. I can't even control chakra. Awww legs, stop bitching at me!

"Three." Now I feel as though kunais are stabbing me repeatedly in the arms. I try to keeps still, but eventually the urge to struggle overwhelms me, and with a muffled cry I slam myself into the wall. Ow. I think of a few choice words to take my mind away from the pain. I guess getting tortured makes me want to swear.

"Four." Now my lungs are being squeezed over and over again, I'm being strangled, my body is being tightened. I've never had asthma before, but this is probably how it feels like. My lungs have no room to expand.

"Five." My head throbs in unharmonious rhythm. My brain is being pounded from all sides, it feels like I'm being slashed in the head. Getting punched by an invisible person. Just when I think it's over, a fresh wave of pain assails me. With a low cry, my eyes fly open. The room is blurry under my pain. But I can see Leader, watching me with a sadistic look in his eyes. And I can see Deidara, who looks torn between horror and somehow, slight pleasure at my agony. At my looking at him, he looks away, but not before I saw regret flash in his eyes. I screw my own shut. I'd be better off not looking at them.

And as suddenly as it began, the pain stops. I limp in my vertical hammock of fabric. I almost doze off, weary from the torture, but then I hear Leader speak.

"I also heard that you'd fallen for her. I can't believe you were that foolish. Deidara, I expected you to not let whatever you have for that girl blind you." He reaches in his robe again, and holds out another pill. Pain, having nothing to do with my experience with that pill, shoots through my heart. I don't want to see him go through what I did. Wrenching the gag from my mouth using my teeth and my tongue, I make a spitting noise that makes Deidara and Leader look at me.

"It's not his fault," I croak. Then I cough, and my throat is clear. "I tricked him. Please," I cough again, "don't blame him."

There's a silence for a long moment. Deidara looks at me, and I don't know how to read his eyes. Gratitude? Happiness? Sorrow? Anger? But my vision is blocked when Leader steps in front of me. I stare at his cold eyes. Somehow, even up close he's shaded. But all he does is stuff the gag in my mouth, and then wind it tighter behind my neck. Then he turns around. I can definitely see the expression on Deidara's face now. Horror. Why? What's he so scared of?

Leader says so quietly I can barely hear it, "Ten."

"Mm-" I've never been in so much pain before. My organs are being shredded, an iron fist has grabbed my heart and squeezes it, hard. A katana slashes through my head and swivels its way through my skull and brain. If it was real, I would probably be seeing peach-coloured chunks of skin floating in crimson liquid on the floor. Kunai slices into my skin, if they were real and not metaphorical, I would also see gaping wounds leaking blood everywhere. I want it all to stop. If death came now, I would welcome it. Please stop. I want… I want… I want to die…

"Mmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!!!!!" I shriek into the gag. Tears leak onto the cloth. I whimper, a pitiful sound. Suddenly, the sound makes me remember something. I can't remember exactly what, but then I remember. An image of two young children, both girls, aged about seven, flash into my mind. One of them has cornsilk hair, the other has a head of pink. Myself and Sakura? Why am I thinking of her now?

Oh yeah. What's happening right now is probably one of the most painful experiences I've ever had. Ending my friendship with Sakura was probably ranking in the top five on the chart. Not that I actually have a top five. Why the heck am I thinking of this again? Did that pill turn me insane? What's going on?

Something pokes me in the eye. Luckily my eyelid is closed. I groggily open my eyes. The shadowy figure is in front of me again.

"So tired she can't even scream. Pitiful." He walks away. The pain is still there, but it's less acute now. Slowly, it fades away, but my body is exhausted from fighting. Then, he turns back toward me and slashes the fabric that suspends me in the air. I fall to the ground, arms still in the white straitjacket. On my side, I lie on the floor like a discarded puppet. Leader disappears. I know this because the room suddenly felt a lot airier but I can't see. I'm conscious, but my body is so tired and drugged that I may as well be unconscious. I can't even open my eyes.

Footsteps. Someone walks close to me. Dammit, am I going to be raped? I'm completely helpless. I can't use my vectors. My arms are in a straitjacket. Yippee, isn't life just _great_?

An arm wraps around my shoulders. The top half of my body is raised off the floor, and another arm scoops under my knees. I'm being carried? My right eye knocks against the person's arm. It's comforting. I haven't been carried like this since I was a little kid.

The person starts walking. I know we move out of the room, because my foot knocks against the door frame and the person hastily turns sideways to fit us both through. I never realized exactly how long the Akatsuki corridors are. Normally, I'd complain about their length, but now, being in this person's arms, I wish they were longer. I feel safe.

"Deidara!" Is that Konan's voice? Does that mean Deidara is carrying me? I blush inwardly. Thank god my body isn't functioning properly, otherwise he would see how flustered I am.

Footsteps pound closer. Then a cool smooth hand lightly strokes my cheek. The hand feels a bit like paper.

"How is she?"

"Leader-sama gave her his chakra pill, un." I hear his voice somewhere above me. Ok. He's definitely carrying me. Oh god. Breathe, Ino. In, out, in, out, in- nevermind. This is making me feel like an idiot. Dammit!

"The one with ten levels of pain?" Konan's voice is concerned. Deidara must have nodded, because he doesn't say anything.

"How far?"

"Up to level five."

"Five wouldn't do that to her." I think she looks levelly at him, because his fingers clench more tightly around my arm and knee. I can just imagine her penetrating stare.

"He was going to punish me too, un. Then she-" He stops. Ow, his fingers are digging into me, so hard it hurts.

"Stepped in for you?" He doesn't say anything. "And stop that. You're cutting off her circulation." His fingers relax. I taste something metallic in my mouth. Blood? I try to swallow, but my mouth is still out of whack. The liquid trickles out of my mouth.

"Shit. She's bleeding." This is the first time I've ever heard Konan swear.

"Fuck it, un." Are they on a cussing kick or something? He lowers me to the floor, his arm still around my back. My legs are moved so that they rest on top of his legs, I guess he's kneeling. Then something wet brushes the corner of my mouth.

"What are you doing?"

"Cleaning." The tongue on his palm darts out and licks the stream of blood away. I flinch inwardly when I think of how he force-fed me the chakra pill, but this time it's different. The tongue is more like a mother cat cleaning her kittens. I hope he doesn't leave a spit trail on me. He doesn't. With his sleeve, he wipes away any liquid that is left. Then he raises my legs and stands up.

"Deidara, take care of her, alright?"

"I will, un." He takes me down the hallway. I wonder if he's tired from carrying me, but if he is, he doesn't show it. Then he stops, and turns sideways. Gently, he lays me down on something slippery but soft. I think it's my sleeping bag. Stepping over me –I feel the rush of wind when he moves away- he leaves my side for a few moments. I hear an odd sound, like fabric being tossed away. Is he making his bed? Spreading out a blanket?

Deidara frees my arms from their cloth prison. There's a ripping sound, and my arms drop into thin air. Then from my left side this time, he picks me up again. This time, he only takes a few steps forward. He stops, and slowly lowers me onto something soft. My head is raised on something, a pillow? From my palms, I feel the rather firm but soft texture of a mattress. A blanket is pulled over me. I think he's going to leave.

His fingers lightly touch my face. With his thumb, he strokes the lock of hair that drapes over my right eye. Even though I can't see, I feel his gaze locked on my face. Does he think I'm pretty?

Ok. Where did that come up? A lot of people have said I was attractive, my family, some of the chuunins and even some older jounins- not that I would ever consider _them_ (the older jounins). Even Shikamaru and Chouji have admitted that I'm nice-looking. But no one I've had a crush on has ever said it. Case in point, Sasuke. But Deidara isn't Sasuke. And add the thing about the crush I said earlier- does that mean I have a crush on Deidara?

His hand feels nice on my face, in a way. I want him to keep his hand there. For some out of the world reason, I enjoy his touch. Great. He probably thinks I'm a whore, and I have a crush on him.

Deidara moves away. I can't feel where he is anymore. And everything's fading away…

* * *

Hmm, I forgot to mention drug use in the author's note, huh? Are chakra pills considered drugs? 

This chapter was very slow for me to write. I don't know why. I had the outline in my head, filling it in was harder.

Next update- not so sure. Probably next week. I try to update weekly.

Thanks for reading! Reviewers get um… grapes! Did you know that if you bite an overripe grape it will squirt grape juice out? I tried that in the hall of my school. I just bit into it, and suddenly the wall was sprayed with grapey liquid. My friend and I were all O.O


	9. Encounter

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

After a couple of warnings that I would probably be harmed if I didn't update, (thank you so much, Mikayla, Encyclopedia Drammatica, and TheKimikoGirl- and sorry if I spelled your names wrong ) they finally got to me.

Thanks, guys, for not 'coming over here and repeatedly kicking me till I update' (XD inside joke) or flaming me till I was about as alive as a car-squashed rat.

I think in another chapter I put something about Ino having a serial number. I think it was '40' or something?

About the hyphenated swearing. From now on, the cussing is going to be non censored.

* * *

Something was wrong. Besides the usual wrongness, I mean. I thought I was just being paranoid, but a couple hours later I decided I wasn't. It was a very powerful presence, another diclonius likely stronger than I. So I exited the cave and cut through the forest.

My footsteps crunch the new grass rooted in the dirt. Right now they're just little shoots of green bursting through the mud. But will they live longer than I will?

I'm not looking for trouble. But if this new diclonius hurts the people close to me- namely the person close to me- then I have to chase them away. Akatsuki can hardly handle one diclonius, two, with the new person being stronger than me, will never work. Besides, I have nothing to lose.

"Ino-chan!" I turn. Tobi runs toward me, waving madly.

"Hey, Tobi," I say.

"Where're you going, Ino-chan?" he asks. I hesitate for a moment.

"Away. I'm not sure how far."

"Are you on a mission?"

"Not really," I admit. He analyzes me for a moment.

"Are you leaving, Ino-chan?"

"Hopefully not."

"Promise to come back! I like you, Ino-chan, you and senpai are my best friends," he says almost shyly. I catch another glimpse of how different he and Deidara are. It's a bit odd how Tobi can like him so much. Then again, I'm not one to talk.

"I promise." He looks happier, well, I can't see his face but the atmosphere seems lighter. "Yeah, we're friends. Senpai too." I walk away, then turn around and wave. "See you, Tobi." He waves back. I feel guilty for giving him vague answers, but it's better if he doesn't get involved. Suddenly everything seems so lonely. But I can't complain about it, I brought it on myself.

Now I'm at the end of the forest. I can see the ocean yawning away from me, miles of scalene blue. It looks so calm and innocent, but really it could thrash a body against the breakers with a mere flick.

Maybe I am just being paranoid. Ok, five more steps and then I'll turn back.

_One…_ nothing's happened.

_Two…_ I feel like an idiot. Someone call Itachi to probe my brain via genjutsu to see if it's a bad case of paranoia.

_Three…_ This is ridiculous. I'll just go back and-

Something punches through my head. It doesn't hurt, but it's as if someone turned a hose on full force on me. The feeling you get when a wave splashes over you and it tumbles you through layers of opal hue.

_Wha?_

The lapping waves part with a thundering roar. Droplets of water splatter over me as a pale human hand of unimaginable size reaches out of the water.

When I was about seven or so, someone in my family bought candied red dates. To me, they looked like shriveled red prunes with splotches of sugar on them. And around that time, the boys in our class were going through that stage where they like playing 'zombie slam' or whatever that game was called. The dead were all rotten and green, and the red dates looked like zombie spawn. Being seven and mentally linking the candy with zombies, I never ate one.

The huge deformed thing that rises after then hand slaps on the grass looks like a monstrous, shriveled date with lopsided eye slits.

I have never wanted to pee my pants in my entire 15 years of life, but now it seems I can't make a record.

Slow clapping. What's that?

"Excellent, Anna. You truly are superior." A white-haired man with eyebrows like slashes slowly walks on top of the shriveled date thing.

"Thank you, Father." Sound reverberates from the lump. Holy shit. That thing is female? That guy fathered… her/it?

The man looks at me. He sneers. "Not particularly threatening without your vectors are you, Yamanaka-san?"

I turn and run as hard as I can. Adrenaline streaks through my blood. I can hear trees crashing to splinters behind me, and my feet crush the undergrowth and stamp moss into mush. I've never run so hard in my entire life.

Something coils around my waist. It tightens, and I'm thrust backward with arms and legs flailing. The vector drags me back to the beach, gravel crunching under my prone body. I try to twist out of its grasp, and send a vector spiraling toward the translucent arm- wait. Nothing comes out. It must have been that feeling I had earlier, where my head felt like it was being flushed.

Fingers tug on my hair and yank my ponytail back roughly. Sprawled backwards, I look over my fringe and right into sardonic, sadistic pupils.

"Don't worry," he says. The pale, pale line of his mouth twitches upward into a sneer. "I won't kill you. It would be a shame to waste such potential, wouldn't it? Fourteen years ago I hunted the first queen, Lucy-san. You met her daughter, didn't you? Both chose not to fulfill their true purpose… what will you choose?"

He pauses dramatically. "Why don't I help you make the decision?"

As if by mutual understanding, another coil twists around my shoulders and a third and fourth clutch my ankles and pulls them about two feet apart. My wrists are pinned to my waist, fingers clammy. A vector clamps over my mouth. I can hear my pulse thundering in my head. Hard fingers hook around the waistband of my pants.

Then something smashes into the devil leering over me. I hear a cry, and rotate my eyeballs to look. My eyes widen.

Hand holding a kunai to the old man's throat, Deidara's back is turned towards me. An odd pang of longing stabs me as I gaze at him, wanting to call for him but unable to.

Then I see something smoky white stretch toward his neck. Muscles straining in my throat, I make a strangled noise. "Mmm!" Deidara turns just in time and leaps out of the way. Something flies out of his sleeve and smacks the mutated diclonius right in its slit-like eye.

It shrieks and lets go of me. I yank myself up and spring behind a tree. But the monster's vectors are still flailing, and one of them gropes on the dirt for a few seconds. Then it reaches and claws at my partner.

Is he my enemy? My friend? Do I care for him? I can barely answer these questions, but I know what I would say if someone asked me. Chakra surging in my toes, I rush to his side and hurtle in front of him.

Everything reels in slow motion. First the vector stretching toward my stomach, then the puncture of my flesh and blood spurting out. Sinewy pink strands of muscle seem to leap out of the vector's path, almost as if they are happy to be freed from the rigid form of my tummy. Then, slithering like a worm, the vector flexes through my body and pierces through.

I don't feel any pain at first. But the moment of impact on my lower back is like smashing the dam that cups the water. A tumbling current, and then the roaring impact as the water crashes into land. I scream, like the caged and freed water must do, every little molecule of what makes up water crying in agony.

**Something catches me from behind. A pair of hands, under my arms, then moving under my back and cupping my face. I can't see. **

**It hurts so much I can't even hear and can barely think. **

**Creaking open an eye, I see that blonde little retard my other side is so tied up over. Yes, I'm dormant most of the time, but not having the reins doesn't mean you can't watch the rider try to master the colt. **

"**Hands off, asshole." **

**His face twists in confusion. He says something, mouth moving only softly. Then that son of a bitch struts over. His words are indistinguishable, but it's probably some chest-puffing shit about saving me being hopeless and blah blah blah. **

"**Shut up, goddammit!" The guy raises an eyebrow the colour of oily metal. I turn to the towheaded gender-challenged one. **

"**And you, just blow me up already. I'm not worth saving, and I know you want to do it. 'Art is a blast', was it? Go ahead. Go." **

"Save yourself and go! It's the only way to kill them…"

**So dear little Ino-chan is awake. Well, look over there. He's making those flashy little hand signs. It seems he'll grant our wish. **

**What the hell. He's stopped. This pathetic, sad-puppy look is on his face. He probably says something like 'I can't kill you, Ino-chan, I love you too much' or something cliché like that. Men are such predictable asshats. And now he's coming over. He pulls me up against his chest. I can't read his expression. Now he bends closer, and- **

Everything swoops away, even the pain. The only thing that remains, the only thing that matters, is

The soaring feeling

In my heart

The sense of flying

In my mouth

Warmth

Covering my body

Fleeting thoughts

Running through my mind

A hot spice taste

Fingers pressed in my hair

Soft breath on my lip

And he pulls away

Smiles

I've never seen him smile

Before

Only smirks and grins

"In case we don't meet again, un."

Pulls me tightly to him

Nail accidentally cuts my bloody spots

A cry from my mouth

White, blood-coated thing

With a gaping mouth

He throws it

At the great

Shriveled

Diclonius

He jumps

Takes

Me

Away…

_Flying. On. A. Red. Cloud._

"Konnichiwa, Ino-san."

A soft lilt floats from nowhere.

"Eh?" I reply. Then a small form appears in front of me. It is of a small child, about nine years old. She wears a purple kimono and a pretty smile.

"In case you are wondering, you aren't dead. My name is Anna," she smiles again. Two completely different sentences, neither having a definite meaning.

"What?"

"That monster you saw? That was me." Her eyes cloud. "My father, he had the surgery on me to make me more superior. And that is what I became."

"Oh…" _She_ was that horrible thing? Bullshit. No way. But I see truth in her eyes.

"I'm sorry for attacking you," Her small face curves in sadness. "It's just how it was for me, you know?" She turns. "I want to make Father happy, and Father wanted you for his purposes. Father's happiness- I don't regret it, but I now wish it could have been satisfied," her shoulders drop, "less violently."

"Don't worry," I say, "nothing's ever easy for a diclonius."

"Nothing is ever easy for a diclonius," she echoes, "I agree." Now she turns back to me and smiles. "I would have liked to be your friend. You seem nice."

What a strange little girl. I reply, "me too." Looking around, I ask "Where are we?"

Anna tilts her head upwards and, focusing her eyes on my face, shrugs. "I think we're in limbo somewhere. Neither here or there." She walks a few paces away, then spins in a full circle to look back at me. "I don't think you're dead, though. Not yet. Otherwise I would be talking to you in heaven. I'm not as lucky as you, you know?" A little smile spreads across her face. "Well, bye!"

"Bye…" I say. That was odd.

"So, _you're_ the brat's new playmate?" I turn at the new, masculine voice. A boy, about seventeen, examines me. He has short red hair, but a perfect, doll-like face.

"Not bad. Nice face, and powerful too." The boy acts like he's at a car dealership, picking for the perfect ride. He catches my eye and smiles.

"Akasuna no Sasori. And you are Ino of the Yamanaka clan, am I right?" Akasuna no Sasori. The one Sakura defeated. She described him as a 'pretty boy with deadly toys and a psychotic drive'.

Why am I being visited by the dead so much today?

"Am I still alive, Sasori-san?"

"Barely," he replies with no change in expression. There's a pregnant pause.

"If you escape with a few scars, I'd like you to do me a favour."

"What kind?"

"Take care of my partner. My former partner. I don't need to care about him, that little man-whore who replaced me goddammit, but I might as well let you know he'll probably blow himself up."

"And you're telling me this… why?"

"So you'll be prepared. That way you won't cry as hard when he dies. I don't want him whining to me about leaving you behind up here, alright?"

I shake my head. "Funny. If you weren't such a prick, I think you would be fun to hang with."

Sasori smiles. "Thanks. Now it's time for you to-"

He's cut off, and I'm yanked to who knows where.

* * *

Argh! I don't think this chapter was as good as my others. (manages weak smile) At least I finally updated?

I'm so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, **sorry** that I didn't update for SUCH a long time! It was because

a) I lost my memory stick which has my fanfic files on in (I found it again)

b) I couldn't decide how to write the fight scene. (I'm terrible with fight scenes)

c) I got lazy.

d) I was working on other fanfics (ooh, if you like DeiIno, SasuSaku, InoSaku friendship, drama, rebellion, and upcoming lemons, check out Entwined By Memories)

By the way, I don't edit my work. I don't even reread the draft. Usually it's because I'm lazy, or I want to update the fanfic. I'm sorry for any mistakes in this.

Thanks for reading, and please, please review!


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